Beginning again!!!!!!

Well we left town for a month and everything fell apart! Or at least I did...but this whole thing hasn't been for naught. I am making progress in lots of areas, just not as quickly as I was hoping for. Turns out perfection never happened in the blink of an eye or the duration of a two week goal. Here's some things I am doing right:

-Waking up better than I used to and almost always remembering to pray, read my scriptures and about half of the time even writing in my scripture journal (working up to everyday). 

- Working out most days of the week. Getting out some of my stress and anxiety with running (with Nate as my motivator) a couple times each week. 

- Eating healthy most of the time (though we still eat pizza a lot). Getting a good amount of fruits and veggies and usually not binge eating goodies (unless I'm at my mother in laws house). 

- I feel happy with where I'm at with my relationship with my kids. Man, I may stink at life but they remind me everyday that it's worth it because of them. I'm so proud of my kiddos! 

New goals:

1) Still working on bedtime. New time is be in bed by 9:30, asleep by 10. 

2) Then wake up at 5 (yikes!) to write before kids wake up. No writing while the kids are awake! I need to make sure I'm present more with them (more for my own sanity than theirs. No more dreading the day!)

3) Make the sabbath a delight. Be on time to church! No writing, no technology unless for family history (gosh I need to start doing that again!) and consciously striving for ways to serve. Listen to a talk while getting ready. Go for a walk. Video chat with family. Good stuff like that :) oh, and prepare better for the sacrament. That's a biggy! 

Anyone else still doing this? I hope so! It's so hard though!

Kamie

Marinda's #3 Goal

Sorry about missing last week, hopefully I can keep moving forward Project Marinda.  That's what I've decided I really like about this whole shindig that Kamie has put together - that every two weeks you do something else.  That way if you have a goal that just isn't sticking (like my last one) then you only are stuck fighting it for two weeks instead of two months, and it also means that if you miss a week you can just jump back in.  It's the momentum of time passing that is appealing to me.

I also had another thought about goals in general.  When we think of a goal, we think of something concrete that we want to accomplish and when we accomplish it, we get to check off a box, another concrete interaction that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  But what about the not so concrete changes that happen within us just from reaching for that goal and the not so concrete rewards of our changed perspective?

For example, my first goal was to drink 24 ounces of water first thing every morning.  I did it- hooray!  Box checked!  But something I've noticed in the three weeks that have followed is that I am drinking more water.  Why?  Because during those two weeks I was thinking about drinking water, and that stuck!  So what about my goal that I didn't accomplish - that of trying to meditate five minutes every day?  Well, that stuck too - not the goal, but the thinking about meditating and doing it if it pops into my head at an appropriate time, because while I didn't practice the meditation for the two weeks for forming a habit, I did accomplish thinking about it for two weeks, which is now, well, a habit!

Just something to think about.

So what is my goal for this next week before the currents of time sweep us all along to goal 4?

I'm taking a step back from sleep habits and am going to try and read a paragraph from my patriarchal blessing every morning this month.  For doability it is 1) Set time: right after I say my morning prayers, 2) only need to do it once a day, 3) I can do it when I'm sick or have a three year old sitting on my head or take it on the go.

I know, I'm a rebel.  No sleep training for me, because honestly, I'm not ready emotionally for that kind of commitment.

Kamie Goal #3

Nate and I did really well with our 10 pm bedtime for about a week...so we're going to try again. Here's the specifics: turn off all technology at 9:45 and get ready for bed. Do couples study before watching a show, reading books, etc. start at 9:30 pm at the latest. In bed by 10 pm :)

The other side of this goal is to eventually start waking up consistently at 6 am. However, cold winter mornings are not really my thing...so this week I'm going for 7 am wake up and continuing my prayer first thing, followed by exercise, hopefully before the kids wake up. If James is awake, it's all over....

As a side note, the month of February is going to be a rediscovery month for me. I'm taking a break from writing and instead attempting to read 1 book/week. I'm also going to attempt some Valentine crafts to get back in touch with my crafty side. Maybe even break down and refinish my table....there's a world of possibilities when I'm not spending every free moment writing :)

I'm also going for one small act of kindness/day seeing as it's the month  of love. Today we're making a birthday card for Grandpa.

Wish me luck!

Well this isn't working

Since I made my goal last week, I meditated a total of ONCE!  And the one time I did I felt like five TVs were instantly turned on in my head - but that would have hopefully gotten better with practice.

I think why I'm failing so badly is because I don't have a set time to do this.  Mornings with kids are crazy, so it was silly of me to think I could do it then along with my morning prayers.  So this week I'm going to try it after the kids are down for their naps.  Yes, I know that is also a shot in the dark, but by the time night comes around I'm too tired/distracted and I have a feeling it is going to happen then.

Yay for week two!

Kamie's goal #2

My second goal has to do with my perspective on life and how it's affecting not only me but also my family and others that I could serve. So, this is related to my quest for optimism but is a smaller step. I want to watch what I'm saying and thinking and make sure that I'm being positive and grateful rather than negative and complaining. This especially applies to how I'm speaking to my children, but also my self-talk. I'm no longer allowed to say "always" or "never" as these terms are usually inaccurate and negative.

My old stake president talked about the law of abundance and the law of scarcity. Basically the principle is that you will receive more of whatever you focus on. So, if I'm always focusing on what's wrong and complaining, then things will continue to go wrong! Also, I believe the principle that we are active creators of our own lives, which means I can create more positive experiences in my life if I'm focusing on and working toward the positive.

Here we go!

Kamie

Time for goal #2!

Hey everyone! How did your first goal go? I want to see those next goals. What are you guys cooking up next? :)

Kamie

Marinda's Goal #2

Ok!  Week two!

My water goal worked pretty well.  I did have to remember most mornings, but I did it!  100%  Some mornings I missed breakfast, but I always got my water.  I measured it out and it was around 24 ounces of water, so about a third of how much water I should be drinking every day already taken care of!

Am I feeling more inclination to drink water?  Honestly...  Not really.  I still fell a little sick when I drink water, but I have been finding myself thirsty once or twice later on during the day, so maybe it is actually doing something.

The point is that I feel comfortable drinking water in the morning, which was my goal.

Yay!  Go me!

So, the big question:  What's next?

This is actually an interesting question, because I have a long list of things I wish I was better at.  It actually caused me to have a melt down this week because I could just feel how much I wasn't measuring up to what I thought I was suppose to do.

I was considering the idea of picking something that I needed to get done - like actually make a plan for dinners during the week or keeping my living room toy free.  But then I was talking to a friend last night about some stuff that I was going through and she gave me my new goal.

Instead of attacking the outer things that are bringing me down, I'm going to try and attack the inner issues of worthlessness I have.

I'm going to try and meditate every day for the next two weeks (yeah, I'm already behind, but whatever).  I've always believed that meditation is a form of prayer - in fact it is just what we call the listening part of when we pray.  When we're done talking and instead quite our own voice and reach out to Christ.

I'll try five minutes the first week (until Thursday I guess) then I'll try and bump it up to ten minutes.  As far as do-ability, this fits with the criteria of my illness, but I don't have a specific time of day.  I could do it right after I do my morning prayers, but that is kind of out of my control most days with my kids.  I'll just have to be proactive about scheduling it.

Add on for week two

I'm finding that my original goal isn't quite enough to make the change that I really want to make at this time. Also, after one week I'm feeling pretty comfortable with remembering my morning prayer. So....I'm adding something. Nate and I are going to "ponderize" one scripture a week. This week's scripture is:

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."
1 Chorinthians 13:1 

Happy goal keeping!

Kamie

Week 1?

Hey all! How did your first week go? I hope you are rewarding yourself for your successes! Plus, we should reward each other with praise. So good job everyone! Can't wait to hear more from you! :)

Kamie

Marinda's Goal

Ok - my goal is to actually get my husband and I to the temple together once a month.  Seriously, we have friends who we swap babysitting with, and I'm pretty sure the temple is IN OUR STAKE BOUNDARIES so I kind of have zero excuse, right?  So this is the year it is going to happen!

The thing is is that this isn't really a daily goal...  I have one of those that I want to work on for the next two weeks, and Kamie said I could have it be my goal too, and we all know that the word of the great Kamie is law!  (insert random chanting with incense rising within a darkened chamber while a hooded figure lifts a tattered book above his head and all the other prostrated hooded figures in the room yell "The Word of Kamie is Law!").

*Ahem*

I stink at drinking water.  I think it is because when I'm preggers I can't drink water, and if you think two weeks is a good amount of time to set up a habit, try nine months!  It has kind of gotten to the point were my body honestly forgets to crave it (until, like, three in the morning when I wake up and scare my husband to death from gasping and saying that if he doesn't get five million gallons of water at that second I'm going to die).

But the thing is, just deciding to drink 12 glasses of water every day hasn't really worked in the past either.  I've tired a check list, setting out 12 cups on the counter, even getting one of those fancy water bottles that tracks how much water you're drinking, and it still didn't work!

So I'm going to start small.  My goal for the next two weeks is to drink two large glasses of water every morning when I first wake up.  I think your suppose to do this anyway to help flush out your system, but my reasoning is that this is a doable goal because 1) it is a set time that ALWAYS happens EVERY day (I will always wake up every day) 2) it is something that I only need to remember to do ONCE a day and 3) it is NOT conditional on my chronic illness messing with me.  I can still do this even if I then have to stay in bed all day, which means having my two-week-to-a-habit is most likely not going to get interrupted.  Hopefully, after two weeks of reminding my body what this strange life giving liquid is it will get horribly addicted to it and I will start craving it like preggers me and nerd ropes.

Dan's First Goal (Habit)

I have developed the good habit to always say my prayers morning and night and read my scriptures before going to bed.  However I need to concentrate on more in-depth connection with Heavenly Father during those times.  Sometimes my prayers can be mindless repetitions and reading can be just looking at words.  Therefore I would like to work on the depth and better connections to Heavenly Father as my first goal.

Nate's Goals
1) Read couples scriptures at 9:35 pm and be in bed by 10 pm.

Kamie's Goal #1

Alrighty! For my first goal I'm going to try a little experiment. I sometimes, I hate to admit, forget to say my morning prayer when I'm hastily awoken by attention needing children. So, my goal is to drop to my knees the instant I wake up, no matter what else is going on. Specifically, I want to start my day off dedicating my day to the Lord. I love this scripture in 2 Nephi 32:9

"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."

I'm hoping consciously dedicating my day to the Lord will help remind me that the work I'm doing, though sometimes redundant, is eternally important.

Official start day is Monday! Can't wait!

-Kamie

Happy New Year!

It's January! You know what that means! Goal number one is ready to be underway! This month we're focusing on strengthening our relationship with Heavenly Father. I chose this theme first because I believe we will have a greater desire and ability to tackle our other goals once we have the most important thing in our lives in ship shape! Feel free to post your goals and how you're doing on the blog if you feel comfortable. Good luck!

-Kamie