Goals Update: February

Let me just preface this post with this: in comparison to January, I sucked it up majorly. The first few days of February were great...wonderful...productive.

And then the Olympics took over my life. And then because said Olympics took over my life, I didn't get enough sleep, which is probably the main contributing factor to my illness that developed. Now that said Olympics and illnesses are over, I am playing some catch up. But I'm still determined to work on my goals and not just give up (which is something I tend to do more often than not). So without further ado, take comfort in both my little successes and major failures this month:

Become a faithful member of the 5 am club. Complete and utter failure. I was doing so well until the Olympics! Staying up late to watch not only the sports, but also those dang emotional specials about sled dogs and polar bears and the warmth of the Canadian people (okay really, I believe Canada is one of the most beautiful countries; every time the opening credits begin on NBC and the camera pans over the snowy mountains, I start screaming, "Ahhh! I love it! So freakin' beautiful!" Really, ask the hubs) that always make me cry does not bode well for waking up five hours later. In addition to my obsession with the Olympics, getting sick definitely does not increase the likelihood I'll be up at 5:00 am. Since the Olympics are over (I am sad but oh so glad because I need SLEEP), and I'm on the road to recovery, I anticipate I will be more consistent in this endeavor. Thank goodness the Olympics only come every two years (London in 2012, heck yeah)!

Memorize 52 verses. I memorized several for my SWI class, but I really already knew most of them (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 1:12, Hebrews 9:27, and Romans 5:8; 3:23; 6:23). I was supposed to memorize Psalm 51:1-4 and Hebrews 8:10 for my systematic theology class, but since I didn't make it to an entire class this month (add that failure on top of everything else), that was a total bust. I am still planning on continuing with the class, but the next several Saturdays I've got some things booked and won't be able to fully participate. I have kept up with the reading though, so that's something.

Memorize (the first half) of the book of James. Honestly, I haven't even looked at the next batch of verses to memorize. Not rising early really throws me off of everything! I realize I only have ten months to memorize approximately 50 verses (in addition to the 52 from the previous goal). That's a lot, and I've got to step it up!

Continue in the SWI program. We are almost finished with our first term class; our final is this week.  The week after next, we'll begin our second term classes. I'm also attending what is known as Seminar Saturday this month; we attend five sessions, request the recorded lecture of three more, and then write our learning experience for each session. We also do a book review as well. I am excited about this; one of the sessions I'm attending is titled "How Not to Raise a Heathen", and that just makes me laugh (out loud).

Read through the Bible. Since getting sick, I am definitely playing catch up. I like to read my Bible in the morning, and since my body refused to wake up before 7:00 while it was sickly, I am now getting to enjoy extra long times with the Word in the morning. I'll be caught up by the end of this month for sure though. It's actually nice to read larger chunks at once too!

Continue to think through our family traditions. I didn't do much thinking this month except for: "Holy crap, I love the Olympics! I don't even care about Nordic combined and I am SO into this right now! I want to be a Nordic combined athlete! How awesome would that be! Or a short track star? I could do that too! Man, what if I were Norwegian...I would live on cross country skies!  My grandmother would shoot me if she knew I just sort of wished I was Norwegian.  I'm a SWEDE, dang it!  Go Swedes go!!!  Beat those dirty Norwegians!" and "My throat really freaking hurts. And my head. I need drugs. NOW. I feel terrible...I'm going back to bed." But with Lent in full swing and Easter approaching, I'm still researching the Passover Seder. If anyone has some good resources for that, please pass it along.

Communicate with our family (and friends) more. I've done well emailing everyone and talking to my mom several times, but that's about it. Shame on me. Jenny, go call your grandparents right now. NOW.

Build up our emergency fund. We put a good deal of money into our savings account over the past month, but it was mainly to ensure we had enough to pay for tuition for next term (the fall). Even though it's not technically our emergency fund, I feel better putting a little bit more money into our savings.

Make a huge dent in our car loan. Because we focused on putting enough money back into our savings account to pay for Isaac's fall semester of tuition, we only made one extra payment. But for the next several months, we are turning our attention back to paying down the car loan.

Cut our grocery bill. I am so frustrated with this one. I love meal planning, but I feel like I can't meal plan effectively and also be diligent about coupons (although I did get a completely free box of cereal and barbeque sauce when I went grocery shopping this weekend). My wonderful friend Steph is a stay-at-home mom to her precious three children, and she is a coupon fiend. She has an entire closet full of items she got for free or super cheap. She was going to show me how to coupon, but then she told me a few weeks ago, "After I thought about it, I don't think you can coupon to this extent because you work full time." So, hmm...if you have any ideas, help! I really like meal planning a month at a time because I hate going grocery shopping. Really, I would rather clean toilets than go grocery shopping.

Develop a consistent and workable cleaning schedule. Ha....ha. But hey, the house has stayed pretty clean! It's just not due to any schedule.

Read 30 books. Holding steady. I finished five this month, including finally conquering The Portrait of a Lady- reviews coming soon!

Scrapbook. Good golly Ms. Molly. I've got nothing for you. I didn't even make it to my friend's scrapbooking party at the beginning of the month. I have a bad feeling about this goal...I'm going to have to use my vacation days just to get caught up!

Continue blogging. I definitely did not blog as much this month, but I do have a few book reviews I'm working on right now. I'm sure if the Olympics weren't distracting me, I would have totally dominated the blogosphere. Riiiiiiiight...

On the lighter side, I earned another $15 to Amazon from Swagbucks. Come on and join me; you know you want to!

I hoped you fared better in the month of February than I did!  Even if you didn't, keep working toward those goals- they will be worth it in the end!

And oh yes, Happy Birthday to my beloved brother today!