still week 1: day 4...I think! :)

Okay so this is where my hopefully "simple" method at documenting with pay off - so that I actually keeping documenting my way through this. Actually a lot of my motivation to write a quick post about today is because of Michelle Pace! So thank you, Michelle Pace, for your suggestions and for asking me a question!

Answer: The book that I am basing this whole thing on is Faithful, Fit, and Fabulous by Connie Sokol. She is LDS and takes a very spiritual approach to accomplishing both spiritual and temporal goals! I first discovered her while listening to the a program called Everything Creative on the Mormon Channel. (listen to this amazingly inspirational woman HERE by scrolling down and clicking play by "Episode 54!)

My goal for this week: To do something extra special for my husband to show a little extra love.

(Before I begin, Michelle Pace mentioned a wonderful suggestion!! This is Thursday of week 1 (I have SEVEN more weeks to go), and although I'm still really excited about my progress and my potential progress, I can tell that it's going to be more than impossible to stay as motivated as I need to to complete this. But even when I'm not doing her 8 week program (like....last week), it's not like I'm unproductive. My natural tendency is to do what Michelle Pace suggested - do a different goal a day. I like this because it's so much more my personality anyway (I guess I can get so excited that I easily burn out after 4 days!), but I love the idea that it could more easily become a habit instead of just a week I plow through! Brilliant. Brilliant. Considering that fact that I'm almost done with this first week, I'm going to continue with my same method for now. But coming week 2, things are going to change and get even MORE doable and successful than they are now! Again, thank you Michelle for pointing out the brilliant, the obvious (more natural), and the more doable approach!

What worked?

This morning before Trav headed into work, I (very) quickly snuck into our garage with a cool Jazz bumper sticker and put it on our (his) Camry. I gave him a (an even cooler) Jazz bumper sticker in his stocking 2 years ago and he thought it was the coolest present ever! He put it on a car that we ended up selling this summer. So when I was cleaning out his drawer two days ago and I found this other bumper sticker, I knew he would think it was pretty cool to randomly find it on his car! Luckily it literally took me 45 seconds to pill off the sticker, stick it on, and rip the stop sticker off, because that's all the time I had! He noticed it tonight actually and was surprised. Not as overjoyed as he was with the first sticker, but he still thought it was cool!
Then, when he was at work, I did some Christmas shopping for him. I got him some wonderful things he's been wanting for a while! It's so fun to shop for other people, especially my kind and awesome Trav!!

What didn't work?

I always find myself sneaking around and trying to surprise him. It's so nerve racking for me because I try (and am pretty successful) at not getting caught in the act. But I stress so much about not getting caught that it's exhausting. On top of that, Travis doesn't love surprises!! ha ha!! But my natural man says that showing him the sticker and asking him "do you want me to put this on your bumper and what part of the bumper should I put it?" doesn't sound nearly as thoughtful or neat! But I honestly think that Trav would think it's just as neat (because surprises aren't too neat to him...they're a little stressful or something...who knows ;)) So I should just spare myself the nerving-racking trouble and let him be involved in my service to him! ....so not me. But I really should think about applying my own advice. :)

What would I do differently?

Maybe taking my own advice and let him give his two cents about what I'm going to do for him. (ugh, just typing that doesn't sound as special). He'd probably beg me to not to buy the gifts (for example) and buy something for myself! So this advice seems like it works for some service opportunities with Trav but not all of them!

Good night!

Love, me

PS I love this picture of Brynlie! An oldie, but a goodie! (March '12) It seems like she's saying "what would I do differently if I built this tricycle myself?" LOL

PPS Does anyone else hate to shop for themselves but find it fun and exciting to shop for others? Not to sound all selfless, I just literally hate all the personal guilt involved in buying stuff for me. I always find myself saying, "I don't REALLY need this, I can get by without it. But I really want it and I should just get it, but I really don't absolutely NEED this."

Week 1: Laundry folding done!

Goal: serve my husband and show my love for him a little more! (chapter: Healthy Connections from Faithful, Fit & Fabulous)

What worked?

Today I had a lot of other things asking for my time. But I did do some service for him that was on purpose. It was actually just folding the "whites." (you know what that is, right!?) Every night Trav gets everything ready for his day that way he can sleep in to the very last possible second (and because he's kind of an organized person like that). I'm not always 100% on top of folding our "whites" and so every night that's just another thing trav has to find and prepare (along with his breakfast, lunch, snacks, clothes, shoes, dishwashers, etc., etc.!!!). So when his garments are folded and ready to go, it's a nice relief for him. That may not seem like a different enough or big enough service to you, but it was. Today was a busy day and in order to get all those whites folded, I had to specifically make the time and put forth some extra effort.

What didn't work?.

...It really worked just fine! :) The only drawback to today is that I feel like I need to give Brynlie a little more attention. Busy busy busy! It breaks my heart that she's so flexible and easily plays by herself. That's so wonderful on one (huge) hand, but it makes me feel bad for her. Maybe tomorrow I'll sneak in something intently to do with her! :)

What would I do differently?

Well, (again) things are going well. I made a do-able goal and am flexible with small and big service opportunities. I am sort of flying by the seat of my pants. Which I do like because I feel like I have time to contemplate and get more creative and wise with my ideas, but I also am not 100% sure what I'm going to do for him tomorrow. I don't want to start slacking off now, I need to keep it up! So maybe tonight I start really thinking of what else he has mentioned recently or even way in the past.

hmm...

Wish me luck!

PS Anyone out there on top of folding their laundry!!!? :) Any tips?

Week 1: Day two and lights too!

Goal: serve my husband and show my love for him a little more! (chapter: Healthy Connections from Faithful, Fit & Fabulous)

What worked?

I LOVED having someone else and something to give so much purpose to my rather regular, mundane, at-home, normal day. I put up another string of Christmas lights on our tree outside. (Last night he mentioned that would be fun to do.) I also changed out the dead light bulbs on each side of our garage. This was something Trav tried to do last year but couldn't because the screw was stripped. He's been wanting to try again and has mentioned it a few times. I tried unscrewing it during Brynlie's nap, and it was sooo hard! After many prayers and several failed attempts at removing the stripped screw, I felt almost inspired to find another method of removal. Using 5 different wrenches the screw was removed!! I almost cried in gratitude when that dumb screw started to turn! Trav was really please at having two brights porch lights (actually three counting our front porch light) staring at him when he pulled up!

While Brynlie was awake, I also cleaned out and organized "his drawer" that he drops all his keys, wallet, etc. The other day he said it was "out of control." It was fun to (again) do something for him knowing that he wanted to get it done but wouldn't have time to do himself. It's been fun to serve with full intent the most important person in my life!!

What didn't work?

Well, like I stated yesterday, today my plan to serve him worked. That's because I had nothing going on. I know that I will have to get more creative and use my time more wisely. Tomorrow, for example, I have other obligations to balance my time with. Simple but on-purpose things are also good, right!? :)

What would I do differently? 

I get so excited about all my ideas that I try and do (like) ALL my ideas in ONE day! For example, cleaning out his drawer was fine to do today, but I didn't need to do that today along with the "outside stuff." I have Brynlie to also give my attention to, so I should probably balance all my ideas and my time a little better. Nevertheless, I can't help myself when I get excited about my ideas. But balance, it's the key word! :)

PS have you put up Christmas lights in a tree before!? It's so hard!

Week 1: Monday lights up!

Goal: serve my husband and show my love for him a little more! (chapter: Healthy Connections from Faithful, Fit & Fabulous)

Here's my review from today!

What worked?
I paid attention to something that he really wanted done as opposed to something that was only slightly important to him. He really wanted more Christmas lights hung around our yard. And that's something he expected to do himself. He was absolutely thrilled to have it done!

What didn't work?
I ended up needing his help to finish what I started. It wasn't a big thing I needed help with and he didn't seem to mind, but it would have been nice to have it completely finished for him.
I spent my whole day doing something for him. That was so great and so fun! But I know by Wednesday I'm going to run out of ideas and energy if I work as hard as I did today. It's okay to do something small yet still nice this for him.

What will you do differently?
Smaller things (if needed). It would be wise to make it a matter of prayer. Perhaps great ideas of service would keep coming up!

It's simle. I'm trying this again!

For the past few months, I stopped working on being a little more Faithful, Fit & Fabulous for two specific reasons.
1. I slipped back into my normal routine. Taking at least 30 minutes to blog was way to big of a commitment for a crazy, silly, busy woman like me!
2. What do I work on first? Everything is so important, so helpful, and so fun to be apart of! How do I choose ONE thing to focus my attention on? And how do I not get bored working on that one goal by Wednesday?

I want to try this again. Do you mind!!?? I'm sorry for not being a perfect, constant, model and example. I'm just me. Trying to battle my natural man. And I'm off to battle and party again!

So how do I not end up exactly where I ended up the last time? Who knows. But I have two solutions to the two problems above and maybe that will help.

1. This blog and each blog post have to be simpler. My goal is to DO and FINISH all 8 weeks of this projects while sharing it with you. If I happen to make this blog cute with pictures and other accessories then that's fabulous but that's not the main purpose of this blog. (note to self: take my successful scrapbook strategy: simple, caught up, and actually kinda pretty!)
2. I am going to choose one SIMPLE goal each Sunday. Pray to know if that's a good choice. I get bored day after day working on the same fun goal. Therefore, I will create specific goals for each day that don't take all of my free time. Perhaps embrace my desire to be involved in more than one thing while still being constant in at least one thing.

Okay so Brynlie just woke up and real-life has already begun its challenge of lack of time. This first week, I want to work on being a little extra loving, kind, and helpful to my husband. Healthy Connections is the chapter in Connie's Sokol's Faithful, Fit, & Fabulous book that I need to read but have ran out of nap time. Nevertheless, I will begin tomorrow by doing something kind to him and may even finish reading this chapter!

I will give a SIMPLE report tomorrow night.

Wish me luck!

PS Do you think choosing ONE goal would be hard, too? Or is it just me! ha ha!

Week 3: filled with motivation and a PLAN!

Okay, friends, I've got to get going and get organized with this 8 week Faithful, Fit and Fabulous program! I did great in week 1. Too great! But week two was a little more cloudy and unclear! lol But I did get some things done which I shared below. (enjoy) But on to another week. Week 3!! A week filled with a clear concrete "life plan" and "weekly goal." One goal, one (amazing) reward. Let me show you what I have in the works!

Create a Life Plan (part of week 2)

"A life plan consists of a paragrph detailing your ideal way of life and weekly goals to achieve it. It's fun and functional. ...Rather than a rigid dictation of must-dos, it's more of a flexible and fabulous rubber band."

My Life Paragraph:
I am solid in my foundation and that foundation is filled with joy and peace. I am always striving to improve myself and becoming a little better each day. While remembering who I am, I connect with people both in fun and spiritual ways. I have simple systems of organization that work well for me. I enjoy creating healthy masterpieces and have lots of yummy recipes to try. (the last sentence is a GOAL!)

I think that might be my life paragraph....for now! :) It will stay the same throughout the rest of the 8 weeks, helping me stay focus and simply remembering my goals!

My Weekly Goal:

I will organized the pantry and create a system that is maintain-able, quickly acessable, and easily understood (and easy to look at)!!

(That's it! Just the pantry this week! I'm excited! It's been one of "those projects" weighing on my mind! I'm excited to check it off my list!)

My Reward:

(why is this so hard!? lol) After each day I work on the pantry, I will take a warm bubble bath! Wahoo!!

PS (a note for me) Things I have learned about ME and setting/accomplish goals: sometimes I love BIG projects (week 1) but I usually get a little burnt out afterward and enjoy a break (week 2). When I am burnt out, I need to embrace it and choose a ONE simple goal, WITH a reward and slowly inch my way to accomplishing it all the while remembering that I will get back to another big project soon. No need to push myself until miserable. Clear goals work best. Don't be afraid to be "do-able." Motivation is key. Follow the promptings of the spirit - Heavenly Father knows me better than I know myself!

I'm SO excited for week 3!!!! OH and I'm 14 weeks in my pregnancy (so many "weeks" to keep track of!) and I'm suddenly (at least the last 3 days), a LOT less fatigued!!!! It feels amazing to feel awake and alert!!! Wahoo!

Week 2: unmotivated, yet I progressed!

Week 2 was interesting! It was filled with fatigue and guilt! Yikes! I wanted to be productive but had no passion! (joy) But I did to several things! I made all kinds of smoothies! Random (in reference to my organization goal, but incredibly delicious and easy! (1. strawberry, peach (with 1/2 cup juice),banana raspberry (that's it) 2. cooked oatmeal, peach, raspberry, a little milk 3. Banana, raspberry, milk (surprisingly amazing...this is when I was sold to the smooth fun! 4. Banana, strawberry yogurt, milk (made in 1 minute and drank on my way to church!) 5. Banana, raspberry yougurt! (everything takes amazing to me lately in the blender!)

I did a few Halloween crafts and organized my closet!

Remember how my closet was out of control!?

 The top shelves look like this:

Well, I got those shelves under control! 

 The shelves where we put our shoes were also a little scary!

 Travis's shoes are acutally always organized. He good at things like this. I watch him and see that he's never in a hurry to put away his shoes, but I, on the other hand, seem to always be in a hurry for some reason! (the missing shoes are the ones he was whereing at work that day)

*sigh* That looks better!

ps this bag is full of broken neclaces! Anyone like to fix "simple breaks" on necklaces????

 Yikes! This shelf under my shirts was not paid attention to so it looked like this:

 Swimming suits and pregnancy clothes packed below....this fall these will have to switch!! :)

 So I switched them! (I don't fold my swimming suits) :)

 Shoes just stacked nicely!

 And viola!! My closet is organized! Which was my goal! The closet needs a paint job and such, but that's for another week!

 Go me! It felt good to DO something!