Goals for 2013, April Update

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”-Karen Lamb

The month of April really flew by, I can’t believe it is almost summer. We only have a few weeks left in this homeschooling year and the weather has really been great here the last few weeks. It hard to believe canning season is almost here. I have some rhubarb that is looking like it needs to be made into some jam.

As with most things in life, some of my goals I am doing really well on and others well, not so good. But I am still persisting at all of them so I haven’t given up on any of my goals. One of the goals that has become a habit is the daily Bible time with the kids. We are progressing quite nicely. Other areas such as my weight loss are not going as well as I would like (I will post an update soon). But that doesn’t mean I am not seeing any changes.

Here’s how I am doing on my goals for this year,

Seeking God

Bible Reading with the Kids each day (This has become a habit for us now)
Prayer time each day (Every morning I am getting some prayer time in)
Ministering to other by praying, encouraging notes, phone calls (I haven’t been doing this as much as I want so I need to put more effort into this goal in the month of May)

Family

Be more aware of my husbands needs, do special things for him (Just this past week I mowed the lawn so he could relax on friday night when he came home )
Take time with each child every week or at least each month (I need to add this to my weekly goals more often)
Teach kids to be productive and contribute by helping in the kitchen, yard, garden, chores (making small advances in this goal)
Homeschooling for my daughter grade 10th to 11th (finishing up 10th grade in just a few short weeks)
Homeschooling for my son grade 1st to 2nd (finishing up first grade in just a few short weeks)

Home Management

Organize and declutter the whole house, do one room/area a month and maintain rooms already accomplished (I am doing the Clutter Buster Challenge for the Month of May)
Set a cleaning schedule up and stick with it ( I got off schedule with the 30 Day Cleaning Challenge but I am working on getting back into my usual schedule this month)
Meal plan and prep, plan menu for 5 weeks at a time and do regular quick freezer cooking sessions, try new recipes regularly (I have kept up with this each month)
Make a plan with my husband about any home improvements we need to tackle this year and schedule (We will be working on the front deck sealing and I would like to get our bedroom painted too)
Continue my coupon shopping, bulk buying, freezer cooking and couponing to keep our household and grocery bill down ( Ongoing)

Financial

Get Budget plan set for the year and re-evaluate each month (month of May is done)
Rebuild saving for medical expenses ( we are making good progress on this goal)
Give regularly
Start saving towards a rental purchase (this is going to take quite a while but each year we will be closer) (we saw a house in our neighborhood we thought would make a good rental but it had a basement no something we want in a rental )
Contribute and Invest on a regular basis (we are putting away our goal amount each month)

Personal

Read 12 books this year ( I have read 4 so far so I am right on track)
Do a craft project a month (I have one planned for this month for a gift for someone)
Lose 40 pounds ( I will update soon on this goal)
Expand my knowledge base in the areas of blogging, graphics and business (Working on reading Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World (my affiliate link) right now)
Take more photographs and work on improving my skills (ongoing)

Blogging

Make a blogging schedule (I have a schedule in place but I need to make some changes)
Set blogging times for each day with limits (I need to get better at managing my time and limits)
Plan blog posts one month in advance (I have a plan for the month of May)
Schedule post one week in advance (still I am only out two days or so)
Write 6 to 12 guest post to submit (haven’t written one yet, this is another goal I need to concentrate more on)

How are you progressing in your goals for this year?

[signoff]