Revolution of Love

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Pinterest Party & Link-up (vol. 28): Daily Planner Goal Sheet (Free Printable)

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

Not on Pinterest? No problem. Link-up your own creation to inspire us so we can pin in to our own boards. It can be a recipe, sewing project, Catholic craft, homeschool project, organizing/ homemaking tip, themed birthday party, whatever you’d like.

Don’t have a post ready? The link-up will be open for 10 days so there’s still time. Plus, feel free to link up a new post or an older post that hasn’t had much traffic lately. πŸ™‚

* * * * *

The link for the pin to this post is here.

You can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. πŸ™‚

Lately for the Pinterest Parties I’ve been doing recipes but today I am doing something a little different. It’s the kids’ first day of school and we have been busy preparing uniforms, picking out new lunch boxes and buying school supplies. The air is filled with anticipation and the aroma of “bouquets of sharpened pencils.” (Name that classic rom-com!) Ever since I was a kid, this time of year has always been my favorite. Even as an adult, I still get giddy as I walk through Staples and chose a new notebook or planner and matching accessories. Yeah, I know. Nerd. But I can’t help it.

The new school year is also when I review over my current planner and try something new. This is especially important to me since I have been working so hard to accomplish my August 2014 Goals. I love my 2014 planner and it has served me well. However, the one draw back is that it is too big and bulky to carry around in my purse. That was fine when I spent most of my days home but now that the kids are all in school and I will be busy with upcoming school fundraisers and helping Andrew’s class as a room mom, I need to carry my planner with me. So while I am still in the process of changing over to something new (more of that in another post) the one constant I have been using with my weekly planner is a separate daily sheet of the day’s goals. I searched all over for one that was perfect for me and couldn’t quite find it so I finally just created one myself using Word. It is simple but it has the info I want and it is colorful enough to keep my attention. πŸ˜‰

Ideally, I get up early enough to say morning prayer before the munchkins are up. Sometimes it’s 15 minutes quietly on the couch and sometimes it’s two minutes as I’m late jumping in the shower. Either way, I read over and think about the day’s prayer/reflection. Then I chose a concrete act I can do to put into practice my spiritual resolution of the day.

The time and effort you put into this will vary, depending on your season of life. There were many days when my resolution daily resolution was to try and take a 3 minute shower before Brian got home. You know what your life looks like right now. Challenge yourself but be realistic. God knows where your heart is and the crosses you are bearing right now. For a mom with a newborn her goal may be to stay in bed a few minutes longer and catch some ZZZ’s to make up for a sleepless night. My goal would be the opposite right now. Get my butt out of bed and stop lingering on my pillow. πŸ˜‰

Next I review over my weekly planner and fill in the places I need to be and people I need to contact. Then I see what items I simply MUST do that day – ie. Pay the electricity before they shut off the lights or fill out that permission slip before my kid is banned from the field trip. This also includes household things I need to get done – ie. Get a load of whites done because no one has any underwear left or clean out the fish tank because the water is so mucky I can’t see Anakin Fishwalker in the tank.Β  If I finish all my “must do’s” then I can tackle some of the “should do’s” next. (Although I have yet to actually have that happen.) πŸ˜‰

I also included on my sheet my a food/exercise/water/vitamin journal, even though I am terrible at keeping track, a prayer section to remind me to make sure I slow down and reconnect with God (instead of browsing Facebook) and my notes section.

There you have it. I know there are many people who hate TO DO lists but I am too scatterbrained not to write it all down. Plus I have a tendency to be a little ADD and doing five things at once but never completing anything. This helps me to stay focused and finish the task at hand before starting something new. My goal sheet may change as I continue to work through the introductory pages of Lara Casy’s Powersheets (another future post!) but for now, it works well.

If you’d like to download a copy of my goal sheet, please feel free to do so! I have two PDFs for you.

This is Goal Sheet 1 with the bird and blue writing. Download it from Google Drive here.

This is Goal Sheet 2, which is the rainbow chevron version. Download it from Google Drive here.

Well, that is my creative share for this week! What have you been up to? Add your link or if you don’t blog, share in the comment box! πŸ™‚

POSTSCRIPT – Of course on the day that I post all about how I am following my daily plan, I happen to sleep through my alarm (darn cold medicine!), I skip my morning prayer (other than a few desperate invocations), I barely get the kids to school before the gate is locked, my breakfast is logged in as “a cold chicken nugget and half eaten piece of toast left on the table,” I have a load of errands that keeps me out of the house until the afternoon and when I finally do get around to looking at my goal sheet I see a munchkin drew all over it before he spilled his juice on it. God likes to keep it real, people. So when you feel like nothing is going according to plan, don’t sweat it. That’s life. Work with what you can and work around what you can’t. πŸ˜‰

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Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. πŸ™‚ (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

<a href=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/?p=2157″><img title=”Revolution of Love Blog – Pinterest Party &amp; Link-up” src=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/pinterest_2_medW32-300×240.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”240″ /></a>

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram. (It’s set to private but I’ll approve you.) πŸ˜‰

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.



Theme Thursday: Google Search Image

I was thinking earlier this week that I haven’t participated in Cari’s Theme Thursday in a long time so I would join in the next one.Β  I had to laugh when I found out the topic but I knew it would be fun and easy. So here it is – Theme Thursday: Google Search Image.

Since I don’t use my real name online I googled “Bobbi at Revolution of Love.” The first photo was one of me and Brian from a year or two ago.

Here is the screenshot of all the images.

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I love that also included in the search was the joyful sister from The Dominican Sister of Mary, Dwija’s daughter Lizzy wearing the dress we gave her andΒ  Michelle who was also a participant in Cari’s Snapshots from Sunday.

Thanks for a fun diversion, Cari, but now it’s tie to make dinner. πŸ™‚

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram (It’s set to private but I’ll approve you.) πŸ˜‰

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.


Online Daybook (8/18/14): The Birthday and Too Much TV Edition

 

Moments of Gratitude…

Today I am especially thankful…

  • For the blessing of another year of life.
  • For Matthew loving his new school.
  • For an at-home date night with Brian.
  • For a new haircut that I desperately needed.
  • For the love and fellowship of family and friends.

 

Embracing the Ordinary…

I’m linking up with Gina over at Someday Saints for Embrace the Ordinary.

I was trying out a new recipe and taking a photo of the final product when Matthew climbed up on the other side of the counter and said, “Tale a picture of me, Mama!” He is my “helper” in the kitchen and loves to cook by my side. Although, the background is messy I like that I can also see Andrew and Brian playing, mostly likely getting ready to build a Lego creation. πŸ™‚

 

In the Kitchen…

I’m in a menu funk and feeling like I make the same things over and over again. Honestly, Brian and the kids LIKE the same things over and over. They are creatures of habit. I like tried and true but with a little variety. So I will look though my old monthly menus and my binder of new recipes to try change up this week’s menu a little. In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for this photo of lovely tasting bread that is begging for some butter and jam. πŸ˜‰

 

Praying…

  • For my brother-in-law Mick and his fellow soldiers who were deployed to the Middle East last week. Also, for my sister Bridgette who is enduring their first separation since getting married less than a year ago.
  • For Brian’s continued recovery from the side effects of his chemo.
  • For those who are being persecuted for their faith.
  • For a greater love and appreciation of my faith and my freedom.
  • For those who are suffering physically, mentally and spiritually.
  • For some special intentions.

 

On the homefront……

Things are busy but going well. Matthew started pre school last week. My baby is in school now! It’s going to be really weird once the other kids are in school next week and I have a few hours when the house will be completely quiet! I’m going to have to put on Star Wars or The Incredibles orΒ Cars to make it sound more normal. πŸ˜‰

 

Around the house…

The spring cleaning bug always hits me (months late) in autumn. In 2012, my theme was homemaking and getting some order into my messy house. I was doing well but 2013 was the year of the cross with Brian’s cancer… and that carried on into the beginning of 2014. In the meantime, my cleaning projects were put on the back burner. Well, it is time to get back to it, especially while I have the itch and motivation to clean. (Lord knows it doesn’t last very long.)

On Friday it was the first day in a loooooong time when I didn’t have to be anywhere or drive anyone to anything so I unplugged the phone and the computer and committed myself to cleaning out my laundry room. There were so many piles of dirty laundry and so many bags of random crap thrown in the corners that I could barely walk in the room. It literally took me from 9 in the morning until 5 at night but I got it done! Yay! Now it has motivated me to tackle a few more cleaning messes. I won’t have a long stretch of time like I did on Friday but as Annie reminded me, “Slow and steady wins the race.” (PS. Mom, this photo is dedicated to you, although I still haven’t replaced that hanging rack that you hate. LOL. ;-))

 

Pondering…

Last Monday I was feeling overwhelmed with all the world news of turmoil and my heart cried for the victims of atrocities, especially fellow Christians. I was saddened that one actor’s suicide seemed to spark nasty arguments amongst Catholics over moral theology. Meanwhile, family and friends were carrying heavy crosses and everything seemed to be in chaos. So after a good cry and turning of the computer and logging off of Facebook I thought, okay God what the heck can I do about all of this? Immediately the image of St. Terese came to mind. I needed to LIVE my mottoΒ  – little things done with great love. Crying and wringing my hands was not going to help.

I know prayer is powerful but I couldn’t go kneel before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament as I desired. Instead I had mouths to feed and bottoms to be wiped and bathrooms to be scrubbed. I had to offer all those little things to God as my prayer for all the needs of the world. It may seem incredibly insignificant but God knows my heart. Which is the greater sacrifice to me? Making a Holy Hour or shutting my mouth and not complaining or losing my temper when milk is spilled or pee doesn’t land in the toilet or my favorite picture frame is smashed by a reckless light saber? Um, yeah, He knows the answer to that. So right here, right now, is my mission work!

 

Reading…

Danielle Bean’s book Momnipotent.

Catholicmom.com’s online book club will be reading Momnipotent in September.Β  It kicks off on August 30th with an interview with Danielle Bean. I’ll be reading along. Join me. πŸ™‚

 

The Giver by Lois Lowry (I want to finish the book before I watch the movie.)

 

Listening to…

I’m kinda addicted to Echosmith right now, she said as she sang, “We are going to come together now…”

 

Watching…

At the Movies – August is a big movie month! I saw Guardians of the Galaxy which I loved. I was going to skip it, thinking it looked a little too weird (a talking raccoon and tree??) but I read positive reviews from Kendra and Steven so I gave it a try. It far exceeded my expectations and was a fun movie. I’m hoping to see it again with Brian.Β  The Hundred-Foot Journey, was another “foodie” movie like Chef. Chef was like eating a delicious steak taco with extra salsa while you’re listening to lively music. The Hundred-Foot Journey was more like dressing up and going out to eat at a fancy restaurant without kid menus. A different, more polished experience but still enjoyable. The acting was well done, the story line intriguing, the family-love brimming and shockingly all done with a PG rating. It really is a sweet movie. πŸ™‚

On TV – We’ve got one episode left of the last season of Veronica Mars then we’ll rent the movie.

On YouTube – Are you a Hitchcock fan? If, so check this out. I’ve seen about 3/4 of this movies but missed many of these cameos!

 

On the blog…

Life has been going fast and posting has been slow, so only two new posts these last three weeks!

Upcoming posts will include an update on my August goals, a review of the Fitbit and tips for getting out of a mom-slump. πŸ™‚

 

In the blogosphere…

This one from my sis was hard to read but needed.

These two were great reminders to me to keep my perspective on the positive!

These were helpful and/or I just enjoyed them. πŸ™‚

 

Pinned…

I love this from the Blessed Is She pinterest page. #catholicdevotional

 

 

Plans for the Week…

Well, since it is my birthday today I am allowed to just play on the computer and decorate my planner and listen to music and not worry about crossing things off my To Do list. πŸ™‚ (It’s cold and gloomy out so I may even get a cup of cocoa. LOL) This is actually our last week of summer vacation so we’ve got a lot of school orientations and uniforms sales and maybe we’ll try a beach trip if the sun plans to come out later in the week. Next week Bella, Andrew and John-Paul start school. Bella has oral surgery scheduled to pull out a few baby teeth that won’t come out and she is a little freaked out because she has to be put under. (Please keep her in your prayers!) Lastly, my sister Bridgette is coming up for an extended trip next week. I can’t wait!!

 

Captured…

For those who follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen these. I’m adding them for my mom to see. πŸ™‚

I went to Costco with the kids and John-Paul and Andrew found Halloween costume that they loved – a police man and an army soldier. Matthew is not allowed to get a costume until closer to Halloween since it changes all the time. So far in the running we have Captain America, Spiderman, a Ninja Turtle, Dash from The Incredibles , a race car driver or a Jedi Knight with a green light saber. He was very specific about that. Luckily, (except for Dash) we already have all these costumes at home.

We needed to have Matthew potty trained before he went to pre school. The other kids took forever to be fully potty trained so I told Matthew that I would finally buy him the big boy bike he wanted once he was potty trained. We made a chart and put on his stickers and two weeks later he was completely trained and in his undies. I should have done this years earlier!

Β Matthew and I were walking along when I saw this fruit on the floor. I told Matthew, “Look what fell off that tree.” He said, “Wow! Meatballs!” LOL. I think we need an agricultural review.

 

Linking-Up with…

A Mama Collective’s Currently

Gina’s Embrace the Ordinary

AND

It’s a triple header with my last link up being with Kendra’s Answer Me This.

1. What is your favorite room in the house?

Mostly likely the kitchen since I spend so much time there. The house we are living on now was Brian’s grandma’s house. When she passed away, his aunt lived here. She has since passed and we were able to move in when Bella was four and an only child. This is what the kitchen looked like then.

We slowly have been working on it and nine years later it looks like this.

You can see the rest of the remodel photos here.

2. Do you subscribe to any magazines or other periodicals?

Can you guess which mag is mine and which is the mag of my holier spouse? πŸ™‚

I love magazines! I love the photos and the feel of holding paper in your hand, even though 95% of my reading is done with ebooks. I like the bite-sized articles that I can fit in here are there rather than trying to put down a book I can’t stop reading. I currently subscribe to Catholic Digest, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, Cooking Light, Food Network (although I’m letting the subscription run out on that one), Lucky and Entertainment Weekly.

3. How do you feel about the sign of peace in Mass? Enriching? Awkward? Overdone? Just right? Some combination of the above?

I am a touchy-feely hugger so I enjoy the sign of peace as long as the other person touching my hand hasn’t been sneezing all through Mass and as long as everyone STOPS once the Lamb of God starts.

4. What is your least favorite sound?

It’s a three-way tie: Nails on a chalkboard or high-pitched whining or Matthew’s current practice of screeching at the top of his lungs.

5. What was your favorite TV show (or shows) growing up?

As a little kid my favorite cartoon was Scooby Doo. My favorite family shows were Little House on the Prairie,Β  The Cosby Show and repeats of The Brady Bunch. However, the one show that is the closest to my heart is I Love Lucy. Watching a show today brings me right back to the kitchen with my mom laughing with Lucy and Ricky. I own every episode on DVD and my kids have seen them all too. When I am with my family we still quote lines to each other in our normal conversation. πŸ™‚

6. What are your favorite TV shows now?

I always have way more shows in my DVR than I have time to watch but it carries over to the summer months when there is nothing on and I can catch up on the past fall shows I never finished. My current faves are Sherlock, almost all the Masterpiece Mystery shows,Β  Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead, Sleepy Hollow, The Blacklist, The Middle, The Big Bang Theory, Parenthood, Grimm, and for a bit of guilty pleasure –Pretty Little Liars. The show I am most looking forward to watching in fall is Gotham. I’ll also mention that I used to be a fan of Once Upon A Time but the Peter Pan storyline was draaaaaaaging on and I gave up and deleted the shows from my DVR. Well, with the summer slump I started watching again and got back into it so I have a few more episodes to go and I’ll be ready for the new season.

Wow, that was a long post. Thanks for reading through it. πŸ™‚

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram (It’s set to private but I’ll approve you.) πŸ˜‰

PPS – This post contains affiliate links.

 

 


Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 27): Homemade Granola Bars

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

Not on Pinterest? No problem. Link-up your own creation to inspire us so we can pin in to our own boards. It can be a recipe, sewing project, Catholic craft, homeschool project, organizing/ homemaking tip, themed birthday party, whatever you’d like.

Don’t have a post ready? The link-up will be open for 10 days so there’s still time. Plus, feel free to link up a new post or an older post that hasn’t had much traffic lately. πŸ™‚

* * * * *

Since we are trying to eat healthier and more whole foods, when I saw this recipe for homemade Grab and Go Granola BarsΒ  I was eager to give them a try. The recipe was posted by Amy over at Super Healthy Kids.com.

She originally got it from Anni Daulter, the author of

The Organic Family Cookbook: Growing, Greening, and Cooking Together.

Here’s the recipe:

  • 2 cups Rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (I used raisins instead.)
  • 1/4 cup wheat germ
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon flax oil
  • 3 TBL brown sugar (I used unrefined coconut sugar instead.)
  • mini chocolate chips (optional – white or milk)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a ceramic or glass 9X13 inch baking dish.

Mix oats, sunflower seeds, cranberries, wheat germ, and almonds altogether in a bowl.

Spread mixture on a sheet pan and toast in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Return mixture to a large bowl.

In a medium saucepan, combine salt, peanut butter, honey, flax oil, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and immediately remove from heat.(Watch closely! It can burn easily. Don’t ask me how I know. ;-))

Pour over oats mixture and combine until dry ingredients are evenly coated.

Stir in chocolate if you are using it.

Pour into baking dish. Press mixture down into pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Let cool for up to 2 hours and then cut and serve.

I cooked the granola for 20 minutes but I should have done it a little less or lowered the temp because my oven always runs a little hotter and the edges of the pan were overcooked. Next time I also need to press the granola down more. There were pockets where it was too loose and it crumbled. Despite a few glitches, no one besides me seemed to mind and the family gobbled up the bars. I’ll definitely be making these again. I think next time I’ll also add some coconut. πŸ™‚

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. πŸ™‚ (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

<a href=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/?p=2157″><img title=”Revolution of Love Blog – Pinterest Party &amp; Link-up” src=”http://www.revolutionoflove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/pinterest_2_medW32-300×240.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”240″ /></a>

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

Lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. πŸ™‚

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram. (It’s set to private but I’ll approve you.) πŸ˜‰

PPS – This post contains affiliate links.



August 2014 Goals

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July is gone and August is here to usher the end of our summer days. I love the feeling you get when a new month starts. Turning the calendar to a new page is like a fresh start to new adventures and to work on the areas you want to improve.

There is one area that has been on my mind ever since I took Elizabeth Foss’ Restore course back in spring. (I blogged about it here.) I went back and reread Elizabeth’s essay about having a well ordered day. I felt like everything she was saying was just what I needed to hear, again. It also had me thinking about setting goals in my life. I always admired how Ashley at The Big White Farmhouse had her yearly and monthly goals that she wanted to accomplish. I loved the idea! I also noticed today that Jenna over at A Mama Collective also made a list of August goals she wanted to work on.

I never gave much thought to having life goals before now. (Well, except for the huge goal of finding a good husband when I was still single. ;-)) Seriously, I always imagined “goals” as being grand, lofty things like starting a business or going back to school or writing a book or something. It seemed ridiculous to make those kind of goals when I was just trying to make it to the end of the day with my sanity and perhaps a clean load of laundry. Lately, I’ve definitely been surviving, not thriving. Then I read what Elizabeth said here:

What do you want your life to look like? What do you see as your unique calling? These might be grand, lofty, complex things, like starting a ministry or taking a mission trip. But they might also be less grandiose, but deeply textured things like running a well-ordered home and opening your doors to your neighbors. Honestly, for right now, in this season, one of your primary goals might just be to get some sleep!

Well, that made sense. Thankfully, I’m at the stage where all the kids sleep through the night now so I’m getting enough sleep for the most part. (Except for those fave TV show binges on the weekend.) But I can feel that things in my life are shifting a little. Matthew, the youngest of the kids, is not a toddler anymore. He is three and will start preschool next week. I’ll have a couple hours three days a week when I’m alone and can get things done. But what? What does God want of me? I am reminded of Elizabeth’s words again:

Think about where you want to be next month, next year, five years from now, twenty years from now. Think about who you want to be. Ask God what His unique call is on your life. Our goal in life really is to use ourselves up. Our goal is to pour ourselves out in doing what He intended for us. Our goal is to be fully present in the love our Creator. Now, look at your calendar? Do you see the goal being lived out there?

Thinking where I want to be 25 years from now seems a little daunting! I want to be..alive? For now I’ll start small. Today I am just going to focus on where I want to be by next month. So these are my goals for August 2014.

1. Dust off my planner.

Once school was over in June and we left for our vacation in Lake Tahoe, I happily put my daily planner aside and wanted to just enjoy the leisure days of summer. Well, that was fine in Tahoe but once we got back home it has been a whirlwind of swimming lessons, summer activities, doctor, dentist and ortho appointments, home improvement projects and numerous family obligations. I am floundering with the chaos of it all. I feel like this has been the busiest summer in years, and not in a good way. IΒ  have been trying to keep it all straight in my head, randomly writing post-its or leaving reminders on my iphone and IT. IS. NOT. WORKING. I have a terrible memory and if I don’t have it all written down in one place, you can forget about it happening! My concrete action – Go back to writing everything I need to do in my planner and not scraps of paper.

2. Do a better job at beginning and ending my day with prayer.

Sometimes it is hit and miss, especially my night prayer. My concrete action – I need to do my evening prayer before I lay down in bed. Praying in the horizontal position is no bueno for me!

The gratitude journal I won from Sarah’s contest at Fumbling towards Grace. The cover says, “In everything give thanks.” I love it. πŸ™‚

3. Be more grateful for the little things.

Truth be told, too often I let all the little crosses of a mom’s life overwhelm me. (I can hear my mom say, “Well, that’s a shocker.”) Seriously, there has just been a lot going on with Brian’s cancer and the kids and life…and yada, yada, yada that I sometimes forget just how incredibly blessed I am! I want to have more glass-half-full moments than glass-half-empty ones. My concrete action – When I do my nightly exam I will return to writing down 5 things that I am grateful for that day. On good days it’s easy. On rough days, not so much but I still need to do it.

4. Make time for a few moments of creativity each day.

I get such a real joy when I am doing something that requires creativity. Whether is taking a photograph or working on my Project Life album or scribbling in my journal or making a scripture meme for the blog…all those little things can draw a person closer to God who is the master Creator. My concrete action – To help me keep that goal I’llΒ  be doing #31daysofgratitude on Instagram.

Β 

5. Make a master goal list.

I seriously have numerous goals in my head right now, particularly in the homemaking department, but I need to hone my ideas. I think the next best step would be to take more time to sit and pray and ask God what He desires of me. Where does He want me to be a year from now – physically, spiritually and emotionally? I’ll them break down those bigger goals into smaller monthly and weekly goals. My concrete action – Sit down and fill out the Laura Casey Powersheets that Elizabeth recommended.

Do you normally set goals? What goals are you working on this month?

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram (It’s set to private but I’ll approve you.) πŸ˜‰

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.