A Word For 2016

Happy New Year! It's that time of year again. Time to share a "Word of the Year." This is something I have been doing for the last two years, and  let's just say, last year didn't go much better than the year before. I was hoping to focus on Diligence. As usual, I started out strong, but I lost my oomph very early in the year.  I thought about using Diligence again, but the hubby advised me not to. As I recently decided to work on losing weight and getting healthy, I decided my word for 2016 will be:

Healthy

I was given the Trim Healthy Mama book last year and just couldn't get into it. This year I am determined to finish reading the book and implement the ideas. I even found a "Quick Start Guide" over on Gwen's Nest to help me get started while I am working my way through the book. I started exercising again this week and have been doing me best to eat better (though last night was a bust). 

I will be sharing my progress over on my poor neglected weight loss blog, Turn My Life Around. I may even put up a monthly linky again. Well, last year I only got the linky up once, but no one linked up, so I sort of gave up on it. 

So, would you like to join me in this journey? You can start by linking up your Word for 2016 post below. Then you can stop by Turn My Life Around to share how your year is going at the beginning of each month. 

Let's get this new year started on the right foot!

An InLinkz Link-up

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. 

A Word For 2015

This is the second year I have decided to choose a "Word of the Year." Let's just say, last year didn't go very well. I was hoping to focus on Organization. As usual, I started out strong, but I lost my oomph very early in the year. My house and our homeschool are still not near as organized as I would like them to be. I began to realize lack of organization isn't my biggest problem and I am not going to be able to work on organization without also working on something else. That something else is my word for 2015:

Diligence

Yes, it is my goal this year to be more diligent in all I do. 

2 Peter 1:10 says, "Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble."

In the NIV version, the word "diligent" is changed to "make every effort."

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. I have been called lazy before, and I am beginning to finally see that there is truth in this. I have trouble finishing things that I start and concentrating on what needs done. I need to work hard, or instead of success there is going to continue to be failure. And, frankly, I am tired of failure. 

The Bible talks quite a bit about being diligent and not being lazy. Diligence is a trait that I want the children to see in me, so they can also develop it in themselves. 

There is so much that I want to work on this year, but if I am not diligent, I will lose track again. So, to keep on track, I have decided to post about my journey monthly and I am going to open up a linky so you can also share how your year is going, if you so choose. I have definitely discovered that I do much better with accountability and I'm sure I am not alone. 

So, would you like to join me in this journey? You can start by linking up your Word for 2015 post below. Then don't forget to stop by and share how your year is going at the beginning of each month. 

Let's get this new year started on the right foot!

A Word for 2014

A Word For 2014

Well, this is something I have never done before, but I have seen others choose a word to focus on during the year and it seems like a good idea. That, and it is the Schoolhouse Review Crew January 1st Round Up and I thought it would be nice to get involved.  I have struggled with staying organized in my homeschool, my blogging and just real life for a while now. So my word for this year is ORGANIZATION.  Organization is something I have always struggled with. Even when I still lived at home with my mom, my desk and room were unorganized and cluttered. I tend to take after my dad more than my oh-so-tidy mom. Unfortunately, as I got older my organization skills stayed about the same.  I started something new this school year in an attempt to stay organized. We are using workboxes to keep track of the older girls' work. Unfortunately, I haven't been keeping on top of them like I need to. In addition to that we have random papers floating here and there.  But it isn't just our homeschool that is suffering. My blog has been less than what I want it to be. I am forgetting to get posts up on time and have gotten away from what I want this blog to be.  I have been looking into different planners to help me stayed organized, but it is definitely going to take a lot of prayer and focusing on my part. 
So, in our homeschool, we are going to continue to use the workboxes, and I am going to make sure to get lessons planned in advance. Our clutter has got to go. I can not continue to take the time looking for pencils or glue sticks because they are not put away in the right place or are buried under clutter. 
This goes right over into the home. I am constantly spending time looking for things because I am so unorganized. I plan to spend some time getting cupboards organized again, recipes organized, and a daily, weekly and monthly schedule made for cleaning and such. It will take some work, but it will sure make things less stressful in the long run.
I have been looking into some different planners to help keep myself organized and am hoping to stay faithful this year.