A Word For 2015 Monthly Update for January

It's time to check up on my progress for the month of January. I have been working on 

Diligence

There are several things I have been working on being more diligent about this year:

• Daily devotions
• Bible reading
• Exercise
• Eating healthy
• Decluttering
• Keeping up with school work and
• Keeping the house clean and organized

In my life as a Christian, as a mother, as a wife, and as a homeschool mom, I need to make every effort to do my jobs faithfully. So, how has this month gone?

Daily Devotions and Bible Reading

I have missed several days due to waking up late or not feeling good, and there was another day when I couldn't access my devotional online as I was used to. Other than that, I have been having my morning devotions consistently. Bible reading goes along with my daily devotions as I read my daily readings after reading the devotional. I am a little bit behind, 2 days to be exact. I fell behind earlier in the month, but caught up. Sometimes I will make the time to read my devotional, but not have the time to read the Bible. I am attempting to read through the Bible in one year along with others in my church. I have never accomplished this, so I am hoping to do it this year. 

Exercise

I started out the month strong because I was all psyched up due to my huge accomplishment of meeting my goal of losing 10 pounds in December. When I gained weight at the beginning of the month (not a lot, just a bit), I get frustrated. However, I still go my 5 days in that week. The next week I tried starting my aerobics DVD again. Unfortunately I think I wasn't quite ready for the intensity. I did 2 days worth, then missed the next 5 days of exercise. Last week I went back to my WiiFit U routines, did good for a couple of days and then faltered again. I am starting this month off on the right foot though. I plan to do my WiiFit U routines 5 or 6 days a week. I have to make sure to get to bed on time, so I can wake up on time. 

Eating Healthy

I know I did a better job eating healthy in December. I started the month of January off by journaling what I was eating and my exercise. Unfortunately, that tapered off after a week. I didn't follow my eating plan very well at all, and I gave in to a lot of sweets. I plan to have the same goals this month and hope to meet them.

Decluttering

I joined a group at the end of last year called 2015 in 2015. The goal is to get rid of at least 2015 items this year. We started the month off strong, ahead of schedule in fact. However, we weren't having school time those first few days. I have not really had time to work on decluttering during the week, but have worked a bit on the weekends. We also have gotten things in boxes or crates, but not gotten them out of the house yet. I would like to improve on this in February.

Keeping Up With School Work

Yeah, well, this isn't going so well. We had fallen behind on some things and I have been trying to catch us up, plus work on current work. We haven't been getting all our work done as we start the day late. The plan is to get started by 9:30, 10:00 at the latest. Some days we haven't gotten started until 11:30 or 12:00. This is completely on me for not getting us moving and being distracted. So, I am going to have to write myself out a better schedule, it appears. 

Keeping the House Clean and Organized

As I look around, I acknowledge that this is not where I wanted the house to be as far as cleanliness. I have been able to get some counters cleared off and am trying to keep them that way. I still have a ways to go though. The living room and the dining room are rooms I want to make sure to get cleaned better each day. We are working on the playroom (the children had really trashed it). So, it is coming along. 

All in all, I know I could do and need to do better, but I am quite happy with what we have accomplished this past month and am looking forward to seeing how I do this month. It is not through my own strength that I am going to get this done, and I know it. However, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! 

So, how about you? How did your month go? I can't wait to see how everyone is doing! I invite you to link up your "Monthly Update" posts below.