February update

Well, it's way past time for my monthly goals update . . . February flew by and we were well into March before I realized it! I'm sure you haven't all been waiting with bated breath for this update, though . . . but it's good for me to type it out and see how I'm doing.

So here's how it went with my goals in February:

Spiritual:

Not so great this month! I really struggled with getting up early. If you think of it, pray for me in this--that I would make myself get to bed early so I can get up early too. Early morning quiet time was kind of hit and miss this month, but I did manage to memorize about 7 more verses in Titus. This means I'm almost all the way through chapter 1! Just 2 more verses to go.

Physical:

I was definitely encouraged by my progress in this area. I haven't actually lost any weight still, but I was consistent with exercising on the elliptical. I'm thankful that I'm not getting bored with it, and I actually look forward to my workouts and challenging myself to go farther and work harder. My goal for Feb. was to spend 27-30 min. a day, 4-5 days a week, and I met that goal. Here are my stats for the month:

8 hrs. 58 min.

27.1 miles

11,088 calories burned

For March, my new time goal is 30-35 min. a day, and so far that is going well. Occasionally on Saturdays I push myself harder, and have gone 40 minutes (which is about 2 miles for me). I'm also hoping to lose some weight this month by more careful watching of my diet!

Mental:

I read both books on my list this month, and even added in a fun Agatha Christie mystery for a third book. I love that I've been able to keep up with my reading goals. I reviewed my "serious" book (What in the World is Going On) in an earlier post, and I also really enjoyed Sidetracked Home Executives, which a friend lent to me. This book is by Peggy Jones and Pam Young, the ladies who were the inspiration for Flylady. I'd heard of them, but had never read any of their books before. My friend lent me several others of their books too, which I am hoping to work my way through in the coming months. Oh yes, and my other fun read was The Seven Dials Mystery--one that I happened to miss when I was in a big Agatha Christie phase back in high school! :)

My goal is to read 2 more books this month: Love Food & Live Well by Chantel Hobbs, and Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider. And I already managed to add in another mystery story which I read aloud to Jim--my "fun" book for the month! :)

Financial:

I feel like I completely flopped again on this one, at least in regards to budgeting . . . and this month hasn't been any better. I guess we can all see that this is one of my problem areas! Not that we have been going wild spending money, though . . . we've been doing fairly well with frugality, but I just haven't been keeping track of it, so I know there are some "holes" that we need to fix.

Relational:

Jim and I didn't get out for a date night in Feb, but we did have two very nice family dinners at home around Valentine's Day, so that was special and fun. And, we had a free month-long Netflix trial, which we took full advantage of--watching a couple of new movies every week. So that was one reason we ended up staying up late a lot last month! It was nice, relaxing time together though--so I guess we "dated" even though we didn't go out! :)

We were also able to have friends over for dinner one night, and I enjoyed a nice, long girls' day out with two of my good friends toward the end of the month. We shopped and shopped, and ate out twice! Such fun, and so refreshing to spend time with other young moms, talking, laughing and sharing.

Domestic:

I made progress in some areas, and not so much in others. I am so looking forward to doing a big spring cleaning, but not till school is finished . . . but I'm trying to keep up with basic chores (and not always succeeding). Reading Sidetracked Home Executives was very helpful and inspiring, though, and it made me feel there is hope even for a domestically challenged gal like me. ;) I just need to put some systems in place and then stick to them . . .

It's hard to believe that we are well into the new year now (I'm finally getting used to writing "2011" on checks and things), and I know this is where some of my goal-keeping energies start to lag. So I'm going to try to stay encouraged by the little bits of progress that I've made, and not feel like a failure for the things I haven't done so well with. :)