Quarterly Goals Review

Last NYE I set out to list some goals for all to see. So I’ve decided once per quarter I would grade myself and update everyone since I feel a bit accountable to you all! If you don’t remember my original post, or are late to the party, here it is… but for your sake, I’ve listed what I set out to do in 2014.

1.) If I say I’m going to pray for someone – doing it right away. A

So far this goal of mine is working like a charm! Of course I still slip up and forget to pray for people sometimes, but for the most part I quit whatever I’m doing if possible on the spot and pray for the situation/person immediately. Also for lent I’ve assigned forty people in my life for each day during lent, and have been praying for them. Today is for one of my friends in my small group.

2.) Get more organized A-

Not only am I now blogging on a more regular basis, I’ve officially gotten my E-Hoarding under control, and we’re making progress on our home organization as well. The Living Room, Kitchen and Bathroom are pretty well organized. Just ahead of getting our new puppy we went through some major organizing, and got rid of a lot of stuff, put it in storage, or just downright threw it away. Being organized feels so good! My mom always raised us to be “neat freaks” and I’m finally catching on! You’re welcome mom!

3.) Keep fit/eat healthy B okay a C

Meh… I’d give myself a solid B or C in this department. It seems that I go almost bi-polar in this department. Sometimes I’m eating very “clean” lots of real food, and good choice carbs, and working out consistently, and other times I get home from work, and want to munch on some pretzles, eat a bunch of “carbage” (bad for you carbs) and have a glass (or two) of wine and workout shmerkout.

I did purchase some kettelbells however, and have started running again! So far I’m doing okay in the running department. I started ALL the way over (stay tuned for a future blog post about that) so I’m walking and running currently.

4.) Sleep Better D-

I almost gave myself a complete F, but there was that one week or two that I was doing fantastic. But for whatever reason I just can’t make myself go to bed before midnight. I’ve been this way ever since I was a young girl, or so my mother has told me. I absolutely HATE going to bed… maybe i feel like I might miss out on something I don’t know… but I do know I’d be much more refreshed if I just set a bedtime and stuck to it. I would be healthier too… but as I’m learning about myself, I am SUPER surprisingly somewhat of an introvert, and I desperately need time to myself to decompress before I go to bed. My time to myself is usually between 10pm- midnight… Which is why I usually write at night! :-).

5.) Make more memories A

This is going well! We took our first solo family trip to California last month, and we as a family had an amazing time. We couldn’t have asked for better behavior from our daughter, and we had a great time ourselves.  We are still playing game night, although not quite as often as when I was off for nearly two weeks over Christmas break! We will continue however. We have a few camping trips planned, and Disney in the next year or two.

6.) Slow down A

I used to be go-go-go every night of the week, but in 2013 I radically changed this after desperately needing nights to myself. This is when I first discovered I might actually have a somewhat introverted personality. I cannot stand going out more than I am at home. To me, there is nothing better than coming home from a day at work, cooking for my family, watching the shows that I love, or writting, reading, and then eventually going to bed.  I learned to be a “no” person, instead of the “yes” person I always used to be. Not to say that I said No to every opportunity, because I am currently taking on a lot of volunteering at my daughters school, but this meant sometimes saying no to friends, or myself when I already had 3 or 4 other things going on that week.  The payout has been amazing.  Just spending a night at home vegging out, or allowing myself the opportunity to just sit on the deck in the summer and share a glass of wine with the neighbors was so needed! Finally I felt like I could breathe, and recharge. I can’t wait to see this in action for ALL of 2014.

7.) Don’t be afraid to try new things B

I have tried a few new things. Any time that I’m at a pot-luck I try something I never would have tried in the past. I just tell myself to not be afraid… I’ve found i’ve actually really liked certain things. While I like change I am at times scared to try new things. I’ve turned down a few things, but i”m progressing.

8.) Kayak Rice Creek n/a

Okay have you seen our ridiculous winter? Obviously this goal is not applicable at the moment… but once the melt happens…. I’ve actually gone into outlook and booked out three weekends that I will attempt to go! So unless there is a major family emergency, or the weather is unfavorable I WILL be going one of those three weekends.

So that’s my goal review in a nutshell. I will update you again next quarter, and let you know how I’m progressing. Thanks always for reading! Stay tuned for a new post on Running + , and my quest to start running again!

So, you’re going to have a Polar Vortex?

In my part of Minnesota, as I write this post, it is currently -20, with windchill, it is -41. What the what? But we live up here, and not in California, so we learn to cope, and even made it to a friends wedding this weekend! (Yes it was obviously indoors!)

Here’s a “Top 10 List” of How to survive

1.) Start your car at least 3 hours before you plan to go anywhere!

Ok, that is a “little” bit exaggerated, but I cope by starting my car around 20 minutes before I am going anywhere. That makes climbing in your car bearable. Environment be damned, I’m starting my car and letting it warm up to 65-70.

2.) Dress in layers

No, not because you may actually get warmer. You need layers to actually stay warm. I suggest multiple infinity scarfs and wrist warmers as well! Bless my dear friend for making these for me and sending them to me in time!

3.) Meal plan ahead

The last thing you want to do with dangerously low temps and wind chills is to go grocery shopping and spending the 5-10 minutes or whatever out in the cold loading and unloading your car. So glad my husband shot a deer, and we butcher our own chickens as we have food for months! Plus if you plan ahead for meals that can be baked in the oven you have an instant additional heat source! (Just don’t forget to turn it off before you go to bed!)

4.) Light a fire

Does this even need an explanation? Despite our thermostat being set for 71 degrees, without our fire going the boiler can’t keep it above 65, with the fire 69!  Plus isn’t this just what people do in the winter? If you’ve got one, use it! (p.s. doesn’t it look like eyes in the fire? Weird right?)

update: I miss my fireplace!

5.) Keep the kidletts inside

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton closed down all schools in the state of Minnesota to keep them safe and hopefully warm. So add another day to the already 16 days the’ve been out of school. I know my daughter is excited.

6.) Keep a car kit

An extra backpack/box whatever of gloves, hat, scarf, blanket, emergency blanket, jumper cables, flares, here’s a list I found online. Point is… you should have one too!

7.) Keep the pets safe

This isn’t the time to accidentally leave fido out in the backyard! Their skin can freeze in as little as five minutes too! My Sadie baby is always cold, so I can’t imagine leaving her outside in these temps.

8.) Grab a good book, a hot tub, and a glass of wine for good measure

When you just can’t stay warm, grab a good book, perhaps about the tropics, fill the tub up with steaming hot water, and maybe throw in a glass of wine for good measure. At least if its going to be this cold I’m going to be happy! (I don’t recommend going to an “outdoor hot tub” on days like this, but then again I don’t have one… so….)

9.) Complain wildly on social media sites! 

If you have any friends from the south where “cold” is 45 degrees F then post pictures of your temps reaching down in the minus digits and you’ll instantly get lots of people sympathizing for you. Some of my friends can’t even believe I’m going to work in these temps, but I refer to point #1…..Unless of course your friends live in Alaska. Then they’ll just tell you to “suck it up”….

10.) Say a prayer

If you have a home, warm clothes, and a car! Heck, even if you just have shelter, say a prayer. On days like today my heart breaks for all of the homeless people out there. All of the folks on the news have been telling us with temps like these, you can get frostbite in as little as five minutes. I thank God for providing my husband and I with skills to have jobs that support our house, heat, warm clothes and car. I secondly pray for all of the men, women and children out there who don’t have the right necessities and who are literally freezing to death not that far away from me.

And that’s it! I’m sure there are tons more tips, but you can google that! If I don’t post for a week you can assume I did not survive the polar vortex!

As one friend on Facebook pointed out…”Today is the day you get to prove how Minnesotan you are!”

Jason and I always have a rule. Drive sober! When we are both going to be dining out we have a very strict rule that one of us will always be sober no matter what, or we will stay put!

1.) Man its hot! – I know I should be squarely punched in the face right now for even saying such a thing, but man – we went from 40 degrees to 98 degrees on Monday, 70s yesterday, which was perfect by the way, and then mid 80s today! We didn’t get any acclimation period. We just went from winter to summer, BAM! I’m not totally complaining though, I am loving sundresses every day because it feels like pajamas!

2.) Gas prices suck! – I finally HAD to get gas today, and paid up the nose for it! $4.29 per gallon to be exact. This is gas prices gone wild! Its utterly ridiculous. “They” are blaming it on two or three refineries in Chicago closing indefinitely, and have basically told us, get used to it suckers, cos it aint goin’ down! Perhaps I need to dust off my bike helmet, and hook up the burley, cos I just paid nearly $70 to fill up my gas tank which will last me all of a week!

3.) Chardonnay – I probably haven’t mentioned on this blog how much I LOVE red wine, but since its ‘too hot’ as of late to be sipping room temperature liquids, I’ve moved on to Chardonnay. I think it sounds classy, and tells me I’m sophisticated! (nevermind that i’m drinking it out of a box in my fridge, but hey its Bota Box at least!). On this note, my friend Annie and I are re-instating “Wine on the Deck Thursday’s” since its “hot out”. She is one of my best gal pals since middle school/high school!

Click on the heart to the left of this post to leave a comment 🙂

1.) Running – My training plan for Grandma’s has not stayed the course, but I am still managing to get my long runs in. I still have time, but I really need to make more of an effort on getting my mid-week runs in – instead of just waiting to the weekend to run.

2.) Heat Yoga – Took a class at Life Time one week when it was disturbingly cold (in April – or was it March) and fell in love! The class I normally go to is a Vinyassa class which basically means non-stop movement between all of the poses. I like it because it feels like more of a legitimate workout, and my skin ALWAYS feels amazing after I sweat out over 1/2 pound from each class :-). I also have been enjoying (on occasion) a ballet class at Life Time, and KC is excited to start swimming classes next month at LTF as well! (Yay to fitness!)

A new thing I’m finding that people do on their blog as of late is post to interesting articles that they’ve stumbled upon over the week in case any of your followers are in the reading mood.


So – since i’m a follower of the trends (on occasion)- I thought i’d join this trend too. So for the first in many posts of “Friday Finds” here is what I found on the internet this week!

Dear Daughter, Here’s Why I Work
Sometimes I feel guilty being at work while someone else is bringing up K by day. Many days she begs me to stay home with her and snuggle, and I do long to but I know that I can’t… this article put it so succinctly – “I work because I love it”, and “I work because this nice house and those gymnastics lessons, and those sneakers you need to have are all made possibly by two incomes”.

Shit Ship My Pants
Absolutely the funniest commercial you will see – especially because its from a “reputable” store!

Welcome family and friends to 2013. I hope everyone had terrific holidays! We can’t believe they’re already to a close, but we’re excited for what 2013 brings. All five christmases were great minus my ear infection/perforated ear drum. We were all blessed with such great families, and everyone had such a generous heart! Jason and I rang in the new year by starting out at Rick & Nicole’s house for her birthday, and then came back home and drank champagne, and played hair dresser with K! Today we dusted off the old juicing machine, and are going on an adventure of juicing! Its so easy to get 7 whole servings of vegetables in just one cup! We are focusing on eating healthier again as we always do each year. We’ve been doing pretty good these past few years, and continue each year to add something new. Jason and i were going to run the Commitment Day 5K, but it was like 2 degrees outside so we opted to sleep in instead. We’re thinking about running one 5K each month together as a family – so perhaps we’ll find something towards the end of the month, if its by chance warmer. These first three months will be race day sign ups since they’re colder! That’s all for now. Here’s to 2013, and continuing to being healthy!

Man I’m doing a terrific job keeping everyone updated, but maybe that’s what I should do – just blog once a month or so!