Goal Updates for Week 1

1. Walk at least 500 miles this year (10 miles down and 490 to go)

This week I did kettlebell, Pilates, standing cardio, and dumbbell workouts thanks to Bodyfit by Amy on YouTube. **Its free and fabulous!

2. Yoga/meditation 2x week

I did two yoga and meditation sessions this week. To be honest the meditation was needed much more than the yoga was during this turbulent week. God is in control.

3. Read more nonfiction books

Not yet

4. Keep a gratitude journal

This week I was thankful for:

• snow flurries
• my mom for listening to my rants and then being the voice of reason afterwards
• kind people who can discuss topics without name calling or yelling…its a rarity…
• our good health….knock on wood….
• the many beautiful picture books we have been reading lately….I will be sharing more about this later
• that my pansies are still beautiful through two hard freezes…I kick myself for buying mums every year because they only last until the first frost. Never again! Pansies are amazingly resilient for being so delicate looking. There is a truth and lesson in that somewhere if you look for it.

5. Try one new recipe each week

I tried a lot of new things out this week. The Butter Chicken meal was awesome! I picked up the sauce at Target on a whim and was pleasantly surprised. Note to self: If you add some crushed red pepper and a little more salt it would be even more amazing.

I also tried out a simple pork schnitzel recipe. I thought is was too bland. Next time I will add a lot more salt to the breading mixture and hope for better results.

I also tried out frozen sweet potato fries. I usually make my own (just cut up sweet potatoes, oil, and salt), but these were pretty good too. Definitely lighter on the sweet potato flavor than our homemade version, but it was nice to have a change.

6. Do more things as a family

We had errands to run in Huntsville, so we stopped by Cabela’s to see all of the cool taxidermy they have on display. Then we ran into Sam’s Club and got lunch on the way home at Tenda Chick (our favorite chicken places in order are Guthrie’s, Jim Bob’s Chicken Fingers in Opelika, Alabama, Tenda Chick, Zaxby’s, and then Chick-fil-a)

7. Buy more used items

I bought books ($3), a new cardigan ($3), and a jacket ($6) this week at the thrift store. **If your kids haven’t read the Stink Moody and Judy Moody books then they are missing out. We have read them all the way through 3 times and counting.

Total spent: $12

Estimated total saved by buying used: $40

8. Take my children on monthly outings by themselves

Not yet

9. Finish my 2019 NaNoWriMo novel

Doing some edits on my past few chapters before moving on.

**If you would like to check out my last novel, Murder at Kelsey Hall, its available to purchase on Amazon as an eBook (or if you have Kindle Unlimited, it is currently free to read with your subscription)

10. Volunteer more

This week I watched my autistic sister while my mom went to the doctor. I made my sister juicy eggs for breakfast and she sat by me the whole time making sure that I didn’t break the yolks:)

How is your week going??