Can you believe March is here already! I can bemoan all the things I didn’t get done last month or I can get excited about a new fresh start. Let’s go with the new start, shall we. 😉 But before I get to  goals for March and April, I want to review over my goals for January and February. The past two months were busier than I anticipated and while I didn’t accomplish all I hoped for, there was progress so that’s a win!

My main goals do not change but my mini-goals change depending on the two month interval and what projects I want to complete. So here is a summary of my progress and my mini goals for March/ April 2016.

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Main Goal #1: To always have God at the center of my life and to deepen my love for Him. I want his will to be my will and motivation.

 Jan/Feb Mini-Goals Reviewed

• 15 minutes morning prayer. – I had a few dry spells but for the most part, I tried to make sure I had a morning prayer time. However, there were days I could have put greater effort into it.  I feel like I rushed through it just to get it over with. No bueno.
• Short exam and Act of Contrition at end of the day. – This was going well for awhile but the last week or so I’ve been fried at the end of the day and not in the mood for serious reflection. I need to make a change.

March/ April Mini-Goals

I’m going to keep at it until I get it down solid.

• 15 minutes of morning prayer. – I want to work on the quality over the quantity. I’d rather have 5 minutes of a really thoughtful connection with God than 15 minutes of zoning out just so I can mark a check box.
• Short exam and Act of Contrition at end of the day. – I think I need to rearrange my evening schedule to do my exam a little earlier in the evening. I keep trying to do “one more thing” until it’s so late I need to get to bed. So I’ll plan my night reflection before I start the “one more thing” game.

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Main Goal #2: To be a loving and holy wife to Brian and to work at keeping our marriage strong, to nurture our friendship and spend time alone to reconnect.

Jan/Feb Mini-Goals Reviewed

• Continue to plan weekly date nights and monthly out of the house dates. Step up the at home date nights so there is more one-on-one and not just passively watching a movie. – This has been going well. Now that Bella can babysit we feel comfortable leaving for an hour to go out to lunch at least once a month.
• Brian works so hard for us, do little things to make his day easier. (ie. Make his lunch or clean out his coffee machine or take out the trash – things that he would normally do.) – I didn’t consciously remember to do something for him every day but it was often that I tried to ease his load. He really appreciated it and I loved seeing the gratitude on his face (or in his kiss.) 🙂

 Mini-Goals

• Coordinate schedules and plan date outing with Brian for March and April.
• Daily act of kindness for Brian. – Brian’s workload will be heavy these next few months so I again will try to do something each day to help lighten the load.
• Shut up and let it go.  – I will also work on biting my tongue when he does a task differently than how I would do it. My way it not automatically the right way!

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Main Goal #3: To be a good mother that loves her kids and spends time with them and is not always “too busy.” I want to teach them about their faith and how to love and serve God in their young lives.

Jan/Feb Mini-Goals Reviewed

• Use my free morning time to get all my stuff done so I can spend more one-on-one time with the kids during homework time in the afternoon. No computer/phone use in the afternoon. – Hmmm, if I’m honest I’d say it went well in Jan but failed in Feb. I think I need a redo on this one. Ugh.
• Work with Andrew as he prepares for his First Reconciliation next month. – This went great mostly because Brian wanted to do the bulk of the prep. I love a man that takes charge spiritually since it is usually left to the wife. 🙂 So together we both helped and Andrew did a fine job.
• More family time activities on the weekend. – We had a lot of rainy weekends so it was tough doing outdoor things but we always tried to have some fun activity together even if it was just movie and popcorn, so yeah this was pretty good.

 March/April Mini-Goals

• Use my free morning time to get all my stuff done so I can spend more one-on-one time with the kids during homework time in the afternoon. No computer/phone use in the afternoon.  – I need to keep working on this one.
• Let the boys help in the kitchen more and be patient with them. –  When I make dinner I like to get in there and get it done but Matthew often wants to “help” me cook. It’s been fun letting him stir spaghetti sauce or chop veggies for a salsa but now his older brothers have asked to have a turn helping me cook. Since we have a small kitchen and I have a small level of patience, I said that each night one boy could help me prepare the meal. Last night I wanted to zip through dinner but Andrew was eager to help. We made his favorite breakfast dinner and I showed him how to make the scrambled egg. It took a heck of a lot longer but he was so proud and so excited to tell Brian about it when he got home from work that I knew it was worth it. Not to mention that it will help them learn a skill they can use for the rest of their lives. (Future daughters-in-law, you’re welcome.) For Matthew, it was not easy to relinquish his throne as kitchen helper but he is home with me for his lunch and we make that together. Plus I let him take the “orders” at dinner and serve the plates so that has kept him happy. 😉
• Continue with our family Lenten practices and nightly decade of the rosary. – In the past we have done a lot more activities but this year all we could handle was our nightly prayer, marking the calendar and using the sacrifice beans. Sometime less is more.

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Main Goal #4: To bring order into our home so I am not stressed out by the mess and chaos. When things are organized our family life runs smoother and there is more peace.

Jan/Feb Mini-Goals Reviewed

• I’ve been slacking on my meal planning and going to the store too often so back to weekly meal plans on Sunday. – Better but not great. I have been making a weekly plan for the most part but coming up with meals other than the usual handful of meals is like pulling teeth. I need help.
  
• Spend time on the weekends with Mystie’s Work the Plan course. – Total fail.
• Follow A Bowl Full of Lemon’s 2016 Home Organization 101 Challenge. – To the outsider, this was a fail but I’d rather look at it as a revised goal. There were weekly challenges and it literally took me a month to accomplish the week challenge. Soooo, I’m revising it and continuing it in the coning months.
  

 March/April Mini-Goals

• Make a reference meal list. – The other day I was trying to pick meals for the week and I kept drawing a blank so I asked the kids (we were driving in the car at the time) what were their favorite meals. Together we started remembering meals we’ve enjoyed but that I haven’t made in awhile. I need to sit down and right down all those meals in my bullet journal so when I am stumped with meal planing I have ideas ready for me.
• Put all my printed recipes into a binder for easy reference. – I have some well worn out printed recipes that I refer to often but they are either in a pile on the kitchen counter or shoved on a book shelf by my cookbooks. They are never where I need them when I need them. Now I already bought the cute recipe binder and the handy dividers and the pens to label the dividers but I haven’t actually sat down and done the work to put it together. (That is so Bobbi, it’s ridiculous. And I can hear my mom laughing.) So this month I will Get. It. Done.
• Continue A Bowl Full of Lemon’s 2016 Home Organization 101 Challenge. – However, I will change the weeks to months. Who care if by the time I finish it will be time for the 2017 challenge. A mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do.

* * *Main Goal #5 – To take care of myself physically, spiritually and mentally so I can be a happy and healthy wife, mother and friend. Taking care of myself mentally also means challenging myself to come out of my comfort zone and facing my fears and trying new things.

Jan/Feb Mini-Goals Reviewed

• Continued basics – water, vitamins, walk at least 20 minutes 5x a week and in bed by 11 on school nights. – Walking was poor. Water and vitamins better. Bed by 11… maybe graded a C+ with room for improvement.

• Turn off TV and spend 15 minutes reading before bed. I pledged on Goodreads to read 12 books in 2016 and I am following Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Reading Challenge for added fun.  – While I didn’t read much before bed, I do keep my books on my kindle (which is also on my phone) and I read during pockets of the day when I have a chance (like in the car line waiting to pick up kids in school or during the boyis’ speech therapy sessions.)  I also discovered the beauty of audio books so I was able to read during quiet moments but could continue the story while I was folding laundry or washing dishes. I’m happy to report that of my pledged 12 books this year, I just finished my 9th book last night. Yay! Some of the books I loved ( Lizzy and Jane & The Painter’s Daughter) and some disappointed me (I’m looking at you, Longbourne.) Next on the list is book #10 – All the Light We Cannot See.
• Do my evening recaps in my bullet journal and plan for the next day. – This has been going very well and less stuff is falling through the cracks.

March/ April Mini-Goals

Because of the busy days, I have been making sure to spend a little time each day doing something creative even if it is only for a couple minutes. Sometimes it is simply posting a photo on Instagram. Sometimes it is decorating my bullet journal or making a blog post or writing a letter. It is something that helps me unwind and makes me less stressful so I am more pleasant to my family. (You know the saying – If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.)

In January I practiced improving my doodling by drawing a tiny icon each day. (Well, more like drew 4 icons every 4 days because , you know, life happens.)

In February, as I mentioned in my previous post, I wrote a letter/card/postcard a day for the #incowrimo challenge and I practiced my writing in the #rockyourhandwriting challenge. I had to blog less, because I only have so much free time, but I loved doing it. So this month I will carry on with the habit…

• Do a little something creative every day.
• Continued basics – water, vitamins, walk at least 20 minutes 5x a week and in bed by 11 on school nights. – I recently got back into the habit of morning walks now that the weather is nicer so I want to follow through on that the next two months.
  
• Eat a timely breakfast every morning. – I’ve gotten into the bad habit of skipping breakfast or waiting way too late to eat it, especially on days when I am out the door with the kids at 7:30 and don’t return until later in the afternoon. I know this isn’t good so I want to work on correcting this bad habit. First thing I need to do is make a batch of my favorite granola. I never skip breakfast when that stuff is around. Or if I’m going to be gone all morning, I have to pack a sandwich or fruit and nuts to eat in the car after dropping off the kids at school.

What about you? What is the one thing that you really want to work on this month? Do share!

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