Christmas 2012 card

Going Offline
- No Facebook
- No Pinterest
- No Swagbucks
- No random Internet surfing
- No daily blog reading- this one might be the hardest for me because there are about 5 blogs that I enjoy reading on a daily basis, but I have also been convicted of how much I compare myself to these women and then fell like a failure. I often feel these women/moms have it all together- perfect moms, perfect homes, perfect routines. So I need to stop reading these for a period of time.
- E-mail- but not daily, rather only once or twice a week because there are a few things that I am accountable for through e-mails
- Shutterfly- this is how I share photos of my kids with family, plus I have already started a few Christmas gifts
- You Version- my daily Bible reading plan is through YouVersion which is only accessed through the Internet
- Google- only if I really need to look up something that I need the Internet for.
- My plan is be offline through the whole month of November, but I know Thanksgiving weekend I will be online because of trying to score some Black Friday/Cyber Monday Christmas deals. My goal is focus on re-prioritizing how I spend my time, mainly in regards to my family, as well as my spiritual life.
Days and Nights
Amelia's Birth Story
A little mommy guilt
Turn Off the TV, Open a Book
I have been reading a lot this year. As of today, I have completed more than 50 books! Most books I have posted on my Pinterest page, a few short "how-to" e-books I didn't bother posting. I have really made it a priority to read, mostly during Silas' nap times or in the evenings while Brett is watching baseball. Outside of favorite shows recorded on the DVR, I have almost completely stopped watching TV. I admit that during the Olympics, the TV was on most of the day, but it was the Olympics so I gave myself grace :) I also have made it a habit to read during commercials if Brett and I are watching something on live TV that I'm interested in.
I realized how much the TV was on during the day, mainly as background noise, and it really started to bother me. I don't want Silas to become a TV watcher outside of approved shows or movies. Plus I have become more aware of the advertising. This summer I have been trying to simplify our lives by removing clutter, simplifying toys, trying to eliminate processed foods, and removing sugar from our diets, all of these things commercials directly counter act.
At first I thought it would be hard to not have the TV on as background noise. Being home all day, most everyday can sometimes get lonely. But once I turned the TV off, I turned the radio on and have either K-Love, Pandora, or my favorite CDs on in the background. Having quality music in the background has really been uplifting, especially in the first few months of the pregnancy when I was feeling so sick. With the TV off, and the music on I am much more likely to read instead of being distracted by something probably useless on TV.
Most everything I have read this year had been worthwhile, there have been a few duds along the way. All of the books I have read have been recommended my other bloggers, or books that I have sinned pinned, or are books that I have been wanting to read for a while. I wanted to share a few of my favorite reads so far this year.
The first book is Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn
I can't say that this was an easy read, but it has definitely been the most challenging read of the year. To be honest it was really hard to read for two reasons, the chapters are long, and it is incredibly convicting and powerful. Alcorn pretty much goes against the American dream of saving up lots of money, and buying nice things for yourself. In fact it's quite the opposite. He really challenges the reader to look at money not as "yours" but as God's. I have recommend this book to several family members, and Brett and I have spent a lot of time talking about some of the points I have read.
The second book is The Preacher's Bride by Jodi Hedlund.



It Finally Came!
Long Days, Short Years
2012 Goals Revisited
Spiritual
- read through the Bible in a year- I have been very diligient about this, and am up to date on my readings!
- Pray more - I have been trying to daily pray. A few months back I read A Praying Life by Paul Miller, and have been working on making prayer cards.
- Memorize the Book of Colossians- this has fallen by the way side. Maybe next year :)
- pray for Brett everyday- I have been really trying to be pretty consistent about this. Plus I have also noticed that the more I pray for him, the less I am to focus on negative qualities (as if that should be a new realization!)
- go on at least two dates, away from the house, a month- we have been really good about this!
- pray and read the Bible together every night- this is one habit that we have gotten out of the habit of doing, mainly because we have started going to bed at different times. I will say while we haven't been really good about reading the Bible together, we do pray together most nights.
- spend time together every night talking about our day, and just enjoying being around each other- every night at dinner we re-cap our day and talk about what's been going on. I have also been watching A LOT of baseball in the evenings with Brett trying my hardest to be interested in his long time love.
- pray for Silas everyday- trying to be consistent with this
- read aloud from his children's Bible everyday- most days we do this, but to be honest I really need to be better about this.
- pray with Silas everyday- I am ashamed to say that I don't do this, so this area needs some work!
- read aloud stories everyday- Oh yes, we read Silas' favorite books over and over again on a daily basis! (Is is wrong that I'm tempted to hide a few of his books? :))
- be more consistent with a daily routine and discipline- we pretty much have a weekly routine down, but to be honest it depends on my energy level on how consistent I am with discipline.
- begin planning, organizing, and implementing early learning at home resources and strategies- it's still on my list of things to do, just haven't done so yet.
- plan one weekly outing together and/or as a family- does running to Target count? :)
- •create a Motherhood Mission Statement- again, it's still on my list of things to do, just haven't done so yet.
- continue to work off baby weight- Obviously not happening!!
- walk at least three times a week- before it became hotter than anything around here, we were faithfully going on daily walks.
- go to the gym at least three times a week- most weeks it is a miracle if I get there twice.
- begin introducing more real foods and eliminate more processed foods from our diet- this is an on going adventure.
Home Keeping
- follow our daily routine more consistently- starting in June I really got disciplined in this area.
- keep the house picked up- I hate clutter, so I have been really good about this.
- follow a weekly and monthly chores plan- only in June have I really been doing this, the nesting phase has kicked in!
- learn to cook more real food options- with the execption of a few things, I pretty much cook from scratch most nights.
- continue to learn about and incorporate more natural cleaning methods- I just made a homemade window cleaner today!
- read at least four books a month, including at least one fiction book- I have been reading like crazy this year! I forgot how much I love to read. I have pinned all the books I have read on my Pinterest page. Later I will blog about my favorite books that I have read this year.
- tackle my list of projects, hoping to accomplish at least two a month- I've only done a few things that I had planned.
- stay up to date on photos and memory books for Silas and the family- I have been really good about this. I just finished Silas' baby book and organized his keepsake box. Plus I have been uploading photos to Shutterfly and making a photo book about every three months.
- Cut back on our TV viewing- I have hardly watched any TV over the past few months, except for baseball :) In fact I even approached Brett about canceling our cable, but he is not quite on the same page yet.
- Limit my Internet time to one morning session and one evening session- FAILED, especially since my Kindle Fire connects to the internet.
- blog more consistently- I'm laughing at myself for this one!
Ministry/Relationships
- Continue to serve one Sunday a month in the church nursery- we love this, but with Baby Girl Osborn arriving in September we will only be doing this through August. Hopefully we have an opportunity to do this again next year as things calm down a bit.
- look out for opportunities to serve in my church or community at least once a month- I've been pretty good about this. We've had a baby boom at church this year, so I have made a lot of meals!
- being more diligent at preserving friendships, both local and long distance- could use more work :)
- continue to be apart of my weekly Bible study at church- this ended in May will resume in September.
- work on loving and communicating better with some difficult family members- on going, but this is an area where I really struggle with keeping a pure mind. Satan knows this is an easy target for me.
- continue to tithe to our church and support our current missionaries and ministries- on going\
- adapt a Cash Only spending plan- somewhat there, but not entirely.
- continue to pay off debt- making huge gains!
- save to pay with cash a new washer and dryer- done!
- aim to help supplement our income by subbing at least four times a month- I subbed a lot this spring which really helped, and it's my goal to continue to sub again starting around the holidays.
- continue to meet with my husband once a week to go over our finances and plan for goals- faithfully meet once a week :) So thankful to be married to a banker!
I'm Back!
After a rather long blogging break, I'm going to attempt to try blogging again (fingers crossed). So we will see how long I can keep it up this time. About a week after my last post I found out I was pregnant again with Baby O #2 and to say I was anything but surprised would be a lie.
Silas had just turned 11 months old and I was preparing for his first birthday, with tears in my eyes, seriously how could he have already been a year old anyway? One night when I was getting up from the couch I felt a sharp pain in my lower belly. It made me pause for a minute and I started thinking. Over the next few days I started really paying attention to my body and doing some math. At dinner one night I told Brett that I think I might be pregnant. Ever so confidently he told me I wasn't, but I was pretty sure, 85% sure I told him. He just looked at me with his reassuring look and told me not to panic until I bought a pregnancy test. I told him that I bought one and I was going to take it that night. Then he started laughing as if this couldn't even be real.
Brett and I were in the starting phases of talking about when we wanted Baby #2. We were thinking about waiting until Silas was a little closer to 18 months to 2 years old before we actually got serious about having another baby. We were in for quite a shock, especially as the pink positive sign appeared. We both burst out laughing, and then I started crying. Baby Meltdown #1. I was just starting to get my pre-pregnancy body back. I was starting to sleep really well again. I felt like I had a pretty good routine down with Silas. Over the next month I had about two more meltdowns, one in private and the other in front of my book club ladies. I was slowly coming to the realization that I was in fact going to have another baby and I might as well get used to it.
Then the nausea and exhaustion hit me like a freight train. This pregnancy has been really hard on my mentally, emotionally, and physically. I had more morning sickness than I did with Silas, thankfully that has passed. I was, and still am, battling extreme exhaustion. The simplest tasks make me feel like I just ran a marathon, so you can imagine that taking care of a busy, mess making, energy filled, demanding yet adorable toddler boy has left me even more wiped out. The constant binding down, picking him up, letting him crawl all over me has left me feeling very achy. Plus I have also been feeling rather guilty because when I should be enjoying this time playing with him, all I want to do is crawl up on the couch and take a nap. Some days I still hold him during his nap just to cuddle with him.
On the emotional side of the pregnancy I feel like we have been through a lot too. When we found out that we were having a girl, we also found out that there might be some complications with her heart. Then we found out that she might have Downs Syndrome. So for about three weeks I was in a dark place trying to not let every negative thought enter into my mind. Thankfully all of the tests came back negative and our doctor assured us that we should have a happy and healthy baby girl.
So from the start of the year our family has been on a crazy ride. As I enter into the summer months and into my third trimester, I am beginning to feel really good again. I am nesting too, which means the house is getting a major cleaning. And I'm just trying to enjoy being with Silas. Yesterday I took him to a nearby playground. He had a blast, but let's just say the equipment is not meant for a 28 week pregnant lady. I was feeling the effects of that all night!
It's a New Year
Spiritual
- read through the Bible in a year. I have downloaded the YouVersion app on my Kindle, and through that I am following the ESV version. I started in mid-December, and have been pretty consistent about reading it so far. My favorite feature is the audio because I can listen aloud to the Bible, which really comes in handy especially in the Old Testament.
- Pray more- I have downloaded a prayer calendar for praying over Brett and Silas. Plus I have placed a few books about prayer on my reading list.
- Memorize the Book of Colossians
- pray for Brett everyday
- go on at least two dates, away from the house, a month
- pray and read the Bible together every night
- spend time together every night talking about our day, and just enjoying being around each other
- pray for Silas everyday
- read aloud from his children's Bible everyday
- pray with Silas everyday
- read aloud stories everyday
- be more consistent with a daily routine and discipline
- begin planning, organizing, and implementing early learning at home resources and strategies
- plan one weekly outing together and/or as a family
- create a Motherhood Mission Statement
- continue to work off baby weight
- walk at least three times a week
- go to the gym at least three times a week
- begin introducing more real foods and eliminate more processed foods from our diet
- follow our daily routine more consistently
- keep the house picked up
- follow a weekly and monthly chores plan
- learn to cook more real food options
- continue to learn about and incorporate more natural cleaning methods
- read at least four books a month, including at least one fiction book
- tackle my list of projects, hoping to accomplish at least two a month
- stay up to date on photos and memory books for Silas and the family
- Cut back on our TV viewing- I have been turn off the TV during the day, and I have to admit how much more productive I am and purposeful with my time. I should mention that I have not been sitting around watching TV all day, but have gotten into a really bad habit of just leaving it on as background noise, or watching it while I was nursing.
- Limit my Internet time to one morning session and one evening session. I have to admit that this one will be a lot harder for me, but this goes back to my goal of being more self disciplined this year and a better manager of time.
- blog more consistently
Ministry/Relationships
- Continue to serve one Sunday a month in the church nursery
- look out for opportunities to serve in my church or community at least once a month
- being more diligent at preserving friendships, both local and long distance
- continue to be apart of my weekly Bible study at church
- work on loving and communicating better with some difficult family members
Financial
- continue to tithe to our church and support our current missionaries and ministries
- adapt a Cash Only spending plan
- continue to pay off debt
- save to pay with cash a new washer and dryer
- aim to help supplement our income by subbing at least four times a month
- continue to meet with my husband once a week to go over our finances and plan for goals
So these are the goals I have for the 2012 year. I have really spend a lot of time over the past few weeks to examine where my priorities are, and where they should be. I have created a book list of books that I would like to read this year, as well as create a list of projects and things that I want to try. Apart from being more disciplined and a better manager of time, I have also been very convicted of how I spend money too. Not that I am an extravagant spender, but really more mindful of daily purchases, and better at planning to save up for more big ticket items.
Here is the list of projects that I am going to be working on in January:
Books to Read
A Hearth in Candlewood by Delia Parr 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam Tell Your Time e-book by Amy Lynn Andrews
Cut Your Grocery Bill Half with America’s Cheapest Family by Steve Economides
When I Lay My Isaac Down by Carol Kent
One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life by Stephanie O’Dea
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth- limited library
Projects
So here's to a new year and to goal setting. It is my plan to update my blog more consistently as I am working through these goals, as an act of accountability. What are some of your goals for the new year?
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