Happy New Year!

Happy 2008!
I look forward to the new year. I don't make New Year's resolutions. To me, that has a tone of failure...how many people REALLY keep them. Rather, I look at my life and think of areas to work on or things I want to do.

1. I want to get HEALTHY (did you notice I did NOT use the words diet or lose weight). I want to be able to walk from my bottom floor up the 2 flights of stairs to the bedrooms with out feeling like I need some oxygen. So to do this I will add more fruits and veggies and less chocolate and junk food. See, my problem isn't eating TONS of food. In fact, most of my skinny friends eat much more than me. I however eat all the wrong foods. I would rather pick at Hershey Kisses all morning than sit down and eat a bowl of cereal and some juice. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE. Also, I need to exercise more than my fingers on a keyboard. I need to get my cholesterol to a healthy level. I will be starting Red Yeast Rice tomorrow. This has been used in asian medicine for centuries. My NP that I see said it can reduce my levels by 30%...that would be fantastic!

2. I need to step it up a notch with homeschooling. I need to plan things out. Also, at the beginning of the school year I was doing great with ignoring the computer and phone during school time. That has gone by the waist side. Need to get back on track with that. No more phone calls unless it is Hubby checking in on the day (or me making an SOS call to him).

3. I need to do some bible studies this year. I am pretty good with doing my devotions in the morning however, I need some meat. I have had a Beth Moore study on my shelf for well over a year. I had started it when I got it and.... well, I need to make this a priority. Also, I would like to start memorizing scripture.

4. Church. I need to go to church more consistently. My hubby has a job that his days off are Wednesday and Thursday. There is no way around it. This will be the way it is until he wins the bid for Sunday off and that won't be probably for a few more years---state job with LOTS of people senior to him. So I am by myself trying to get the 5 of them out the door. And I don't know about you, but that is the time we are in spiritual warfare the most. I swear I can hear the devil laughing some Sundays at my frustration just waiting for me to give up. Unfortunately, I give up much more than I should. Chris has mentioned going to church mid-week as a family. Still tossing this one around. If we did this then he would be getting fed too.

5. I want to get financially healthy too. I worked part-time for 5 years as a surgical nurse. I started homeschooling the same year I finished nursing school and started working. That first year I only had one child school-age and another that was a toddler. I worked 4 evenings (3 pm to 1130 pm) a week. Looking back---I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I DID IT! Slowly but surely God has made a way for me to be home. The second year of hsing I cut down to 3 evenings a week. Did that for 2 1/2 years. Then I cut down to per-diem (as needed, but I still filled out the schedule) 2 evenings a week. Did that for 6 or so months and then started scheduling myself 1 day a week. In September, I finally broke free. Each time that I went to my husband and asked for me to work less it was a lesson in faith. Each time we could not see with OUR eyes how we were going to afford for me not to work. But we kept stepping out in faith and God has always met our needs...and some of our wants too. I think we bring in enough money a month to live comfortable, but, and this is a BIG BUT, we aren't so great with budgeting it. I want that to change. I want to be able to sleep at night without worry about $$ or the Would've, Should've, Could'ves that can happen.

I think that is a good start. What about you. I would love to hear some of the things you want to work on in the new year. Leave it to me in the comments or a link to your blog for me to check it out.

Toodles,
Judy