So, how are those New Year's goals coming along?

It seemed like all the bloggers I routinely read decided to make New Year's Resolutions this year. But that makes sense--most of the blogs I read are about living more frugally, or purposefully, or naturally, etc. They are written by women who see themselves in transition to better, healthier ways of living, and are constantly challenging themselves to keep moving forward; the New Year is a logical time to "up the bar" on better living. That is the spirit in which I made my own Goals for the New Year.

Then it seemed like around the end of January/beginning of February the bloggers I read started to give the honest appraisal of how they were (or were not) meeting those goals. Sure, some of them were already falling off the wagon after less than one month trying, and they were frustrated and discouraged by it. But all of them are determined to keep working on those goals and just keep getting on the wagon--and that is why their lives will be better this year. It does not matter how many goals we make for ourselves, and whether or not we are perfectly meeting them; it really just matters that we don't stop trying to improve ourselves, to better our lives, to grow, to stretch, to learn, to live.

Since I am always the late one to the party, my New Year's update has been in the works (well, in my head, that is) for weeks. But it is still worth writing down--some of you may be interested in how I am doing on my goals, and some of you might need a little encouragement/inspiration to keep on struggling with you own!

So here is where I am, now, in my efforts to Live More Purposefully, Healthily, and Fully in 2010:

Goal 1--not living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) anymore!

Well, the good news is I finally got those piles of stuff out of the living room, just in time for Merry's birthday this week. Whoo-hoo! The bad news is that I still have loads of miscellaneous stuff crammed into bins under the house waiting to be dealt with. The two biggest things to deal with are outgrown children's clothing (is it really safe to get rid of those last few favorite things? Do I try to sell on eBay the designer stuff, or just give it to Goodwill for the tax deduction?) and papers (our filing cabinet is finally full, and while there is a little wiggle room, there isn't much. Which means lots of sorting and shredding ahead).

The bad news is that I am discouraged by the state of our house, which has SO many projects needing attention. It is hard to get motivated to wash all the windows when all I see are the rusty frames and find myself thinking why bother, it is still going to look crappy anyway. Yes, self, but it will at least be clean, so we will still look poor and in over our heads, but at least not like complete pigs.

The other discouraging thing is that my schedule for keeping the house running smoothly has derailed. So cleaning and all my normal household chores have seemed harder, since they are not happening in the most logical, disciplined, timely manner.

The bright side: Now that the piles are gone and I have freecycled most of the unloved stuff around here (for now!), I have more space to think and work. I loved having the house looking nice for Merry's birthday dinner, and so hope that ideal will get me moving to a regular rhythm of home maintance again.

Conclusion: Things are better than they were before the New Year, so I might be moving slowly on this one, but am not at a standstill!

Goal 2--cooking with more raw foods (specifically daily smoothies and a once-a-week raw dinner challenge!)

Once again, not going the way I had hoped. I did start out well, but our blender was just not powerful enough to really puree the fruits and veggies into a smooth texture, so the girls were not crazy about the green smoothie we made. Then the second week of the New Year I came down with a horrible allergy attack (to something in the air? I still don't know) that lasted several weeks and just completely drained me of energy. It was hard enough just making food for my family, let alone trying new things. That and the fact that--sadly--I am allergic to so many raw fruits, which made me not want to try more raw meals/smoothies and potentially exacerbate my allergic reactions. So, this goal had a great start, but then had to be put on hold. I am much better now, though, so now just need to get up the impetus again for starting over!

The bright side: the smoothie challenge will be all the more easier thanks for my Valentine's (so she says) gift from my Mother-in-law: one of those horrificially large and expensive Vita-Mix blenders currently being demonstrated at Costco. Yes, MIL shows love through buying stuff, which can be frustrating for people like us who live in such a small space, and even unloving at times if control issues get in the way--but she and I are learning how to communicate, and to channel her buying/giving urges into healthy, affirming purchases, which make both of us happy. This blender does not fit our kitchen, or our budget, so I would not have bought it. But from all the reviews I have read it is a fantastic machine, and so I have decided to be grateful for MIL's urge to love on me with it, and to make the most of it! Green smoothies all around!

Conclusion: Hey, a stalled beginning is still a beginning! And since I will soon have a behemoth blender taking up permanent residence on my counter, I am sure I will be motivated to make it worth the real estate. The smoothies are just one aspect of eating more raw foods, but I am still gung-ho about improving our eating and just need to be more disciplined about 1) getting to the groccery store for that good, fresh, local, organic produce, and 2) starting my evening routine on time so that I have plenty of time to cook. Because when I don't follow the schedule, then don't allow myself time and mental space for experimenting with foods.

Goal 3--baking my own bread and making yoghurt

Um, these are the two things I have not even started. I keep meaning to, and I *will*--but I need to work time for doing these things into the weekly routine, because at the moment I think that is the problem.

The bright side: the longer I procrastinate, the more inspiring bread recipes and methods I learn about! In particular I am very excited about checking out the bread book recommended by Susan--sounds easy and looks so yummy!

Conclusion: Still two goals I care about. Let's see if I can make a purposeful effort to start this in the next month.

Goal 4--trying new "green" and frugal products and lifestyle changes
and Goal 5--trying to cut out some of our plastic intake/outtake

These two I am still very excited about. I am almost out of shampoo, and when it runs out I plan on trying a shampoo bar, to cut out our chemical use and our plastic intake. Same with the laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid and hand soap--so at the moment I have been researching potential replacement products. When I have been using some of those new products for a while I will let you know how they work compared to the usual kinds.

I am also implementing a few other changes for the better--but I will blog about those specifically later on.

Conclusion: A good start so far!

Goal 6--flossing my teeth nightly

Well, since gums get sensitive when you first start flossing I have ammended the goal to every other night. But I usually remember every night, and that is half of the battle! (i.e. if it is a natural part of the routine, it will happen!)

Conclusion: Another good start!

Goal 7--attending the early service at Vintage Faith once a month, so that our girls can experience the"adult" gathering while not missing out on their Sunday School classes.

Yep--so far so good!

Goal 8--starting a price book, so I can know where to buy what for the best local deals (and doing it with the girls as a homeschool project)

Well, Sunny and I have gathered the information from one groccery store at which we routinely shop--but we have two (maybe three) more to go. It is hard getting this one done, because it does not work to do with all the kids (Sunny is doing great at recording the info herself, but is not exactly fast about it, and the little ones hanging out in the cart get impatient, understandably), which only leaves the evenings and weekends to do, and we have been busy.

Conclusion: At least it is started! Need to plan when we will do more stores, making a realistic goal of one store per week. I want to get it done so I know where the best deals are--all this time I have been pretty much guessing.

Goal 9--visiting the same local beach every Friday morning at the same time, to experience the changes in the ocean and weather over the course of a year.

Yes, we have actually been doing this, which is a major deal for lazy homebody me! Ok, ok, we don't get there at exactly the same time every Friday, which messes with the "scientific" data gathering aspect. But my goal was just to get there and get them observing, and THAT we are doing!

Yay for me!

Goal 10--making home schooling more structured, so we get our goals met, but have plenty of time for fun and play

This started out really well, with me cracking down hard on the girls and the daily schedule. For some reason I noticed last week that things have started to slide again, so I just need to stay positive and utilize more tools to help the girls be more self-regulating about the daily routine, like charts on the fridge.

Conclusion: The foundation has been laid, and now I just need to formalize the routine and then be a stickler about staying with it!

Goal 11--parenting with more patience and gentleness and grace

This one is tough. Some days I have almost miraculously parented through really rough phases feeling like the goodness of God was flowing through me to the children. . . and other days I have been so irritable I snap at the girls for the least little infraction. Sigh. But I am being purposeful, if not perfect, and am communicating with the girls so they hear me apologize when I have been harsh with them, and hopefully am at least modeling how to turn things around. : ) But I don't mean to sound negative--I think I am aware every moment of how I am parenting, and that alone is helping me be a better mommy. I am also trying to be wise with how I schedule the day and when I do my own stuff so that I am not setting myself or the girls up for frustration and unrealistic expectations.

The bright side: Sunny has been so great recently, so helpful and cheerful in attitude. And I can tell when Merry is making good choices that might not be coming easily at that moment. And Happy has been so generous and quick to forgive her sisters when they fight. And Smiley is getting into everything, but at least is so cute about it. I have been noticing the little good bits of each of my children, and being thankful for them, and using them to build up our relationships with one another in love.

Conclusion: I'll take every day, every moment, as it comes, and pray that God will help me be the mommy He wants me to be.

The Big Picture:

So, looking over these, it really seems like firming up our daily/weekly routine and carving purposeful space in it for the things we want to add will be key to my achieving these goals. If I do not--in advance--set aside time to try new things, to enjoy quality time with each child one-on-one, to research green products, etc. then they just won't happen.

I have been feeling like this was true, and have really noticed how the days kind of crumple in on themselves when we are not staying on our planned routine. But it is good to see here, written down, how planning/routine are probably the most important thing I can do each week to help me meet my goals.

So, thanks for letting me write this all out! Not the most interesting post for you to read, but a necessary one for me to write.

So, how are YOUR goals for 2010 working out?