Goal Updates for Week 13

Walk at least 500 miles this year (123 miles down and 377 to go)

This week I ran some miles on the elliptical at the gym, walked a really long time at the zoo, and did my favorite BodyFit by Amy videos on YouTube.

Go on 12 hikes this year(2 down)

So far, we have only done two hikes (Joe Wheeler State Park and Mt. Cheaha State Park), so we need to get a moving on this goal before the year gets away from us.

Teach the kids to cook

No progress

Read 100 books (22 books)

I had a really great string of 4 star books this past month. I read and loved The Mothers(touching story about secrets and the reality of small town living), The Other Bennet Sister (if you loved Pride and Prejudice, run out and grab this book! It gives you a new perspective from Mary’s point of view and also you get to see how all the sisters did later in their lives. Loved it!), The Girl From Widow Hills (wonderful thriller), and The Mother in Law (not really a thriller, but it opens with a murder and you get to see how it came to be by exploring the back story of the characters).

Visit 12 museums or artistic events (4 down)

While Emma was at a retreat, Ben and I decided to knock off another museum on our list and visited the Birmingham zoo. It was a lovely cool day and we arrived it just right after it opened, so we avoided the Spring Break crowds that started arriving as we left. One of the highlights were the Pallas cats. **I was amazed they had so many wild cats on exhibit (besides the usual exotic ones everyplace has) Like a whole cat building with several different species. Really neat!

Doesn’t this just look like a really grumpy house cat??

And we were delighted to see that a mousebird really does exist! While a real mousebird looks nothing like ours, we were highly amused with the name. What would you call them besides “mousebirds”??

Attend adoration or a daily mass once a week

I put on a retreat for my high school teens last week, so we got to do an adoration and played some lovely Lauren Daigle songs to set the mood.

Take my kids on an outing by themselves each month

As I mentioned earlier, I took Ben on an outing to the zoo, ate at Logan’s for dinner, bought a book at the bookstore, and then we hit a few thrift stores while we were waiting for Emma to be done for the day. So, it was definitely a Day of Ben to be sure.

Buy more used things

We found a Zelda mug for .99 and a pretty chest for $3. Emma also found the perfect banquet dress at the thrift store for just $12 and I will share pictures of it next week. **She walked out of the dressing room and two ladies told her she was lovely, and that she just had to get the dress!

Do more embroidery projects

I am currently working on this lovely bee print. **The lady at the zoo who sold us our tickets told me she loved my shirt that had a bee on it, so I told her I was currently working on an embroidery pattern with a cute bee on it…..The next thing I know, she pulls out a bee keychain and we gush over a shared love of bees for the next few minutes. You find kindred spirits in the most random places.