Lost In the Prairies.....Found by God

Happy New Year!!!  I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve celebration.  I spent the evening at my in laws with 24 other people (including kids) eating and visiting.  It was hot and oily, partially because we ate Oliebollen.  I know what you are thinking:  What is Olliebollen?  It's a Dutch dish that is like an apple fritter.  They are extremely yummy.  The day after we all went out to the local Chinese Food Buffet and again visited and ate.  Luckily it's the new year and we have goals to work on those extra calories.

I know I posted my goals last week.  I have been following the Lean pretty closely.  I'm already behind on my Bible reading (surprise, surprise) and haven't started on the house yet.  I'm still cleaning from the holiday.  I have been busy though.

It being the New Year, I know many people are focusing on organizing their lives.  I too have been working on some personal organization and family organization.  I was privileged in obtaining Kayse Pratt's ebook, "Getting It Together", this week for free.  It is a step by step book on creating your family's organization binder.  She has included free printables at the end of the book for the reader's use.  I love how she has set up the book.  It's easy to follow and a quick read.  Her printables are cute and clear.  My favourite is her Monthly Meal Plan.  She has it set up just as I set up my draft one.  I always post a calendar style one on the fridge for everyone to see, but love having one available for shopping lists.  

In reading this book, I have been inspired to create my own family organization binder.  I had one previously when I followed Fly Lady.  But gave it up as it just seemed a nuisance.  I want to simplify my binder this time.  I want to keep track of my menu plans, calendars, inspiration, passwords, etc in one easy place.  However, I will not have a section for my cleaning as I have a cleaning list laminated on my wall by laptop.  

I am inspired by so many things from Pinterest.  I love pinning the crafts and recipes (most of which I will never do).  I, for some reason, have only used the cleaning and organization tips, which could explain why my new love is my steam mop.  My cleaning sheet I have is based on this pin from Simply {Kierste} .

I switched around the days that work for me and so far between the merging of the two have kept my house pretty clean and organized.  I think I can safely say that out of a 10, my house is regularly a 7 or 8.  Having a day to focus on a room or areas has kept my sanity and it takes only about an hour to do the job on the room.  

I am going to continue to work on my family organization binder.  If I create any of my own sheets I will gladly share them with you or if I find any other exceptional sheets on Pinterest I will be sure to guide you to them.  

I know I always say I'm bringing it back and then never write about books again.  One of my personal goals with the blog has always to do book reviews of either new or old books that I have read that have either inspired me or made me questions things.  I love to read and do read a lot.  I just can't seem to find the time to blog about them.....must be reading too much.

Earlier this year I was privileged to receive a copy of the Good Wife's Guide by Darlene Schacht, from the Time Warped Wife.  I know, I should have reviewed it way back then.  I just didn't seem to find the time to read it until summer vacation and only now am I able to write a review of it.  (Sorry, Darlene).  

I really enjoyed this book.  It was quick and simple to read.  It made me think a lot about my role in my marriage and my job as a stay at home wife and mother.  It encouraged me in what I have been doing and also encouraged me to re think some things that I do.  I appreciate that Darlene does not get involved in the working mom and the stay at home mom.  I appreciate her value of both moms.  It is too easy to point fingers at each other and Darlene never does this.  She does ask what our motivations are for both though. 

I also enjoyed the fact that she did not preach to me in her book.  Earlier this year I purchased a book that was supposed to get me out of thinking organization and into Christ.  It turns out it was more of a cleaning guideline book.  It made me more stressed than I already was.  Darlene does have some cleaning tips in her book as well she shares how she deep cleans areas in her house.  Never does Darlene say you should do it her way.  She always advocates that this works for her and if you want, to try it. 

I never felt while reading her book that I was doing it wrong or she had all the answers.  I felt like I was sitting in her home and talking to her about what works for her and what doesn't.  When she talks she always focuses on God and His guidance in our marriage, our families and our homes.  That is what it comes downs to - God and His expectations and guidance, not the worlds or our own dreams.  

I would definitely recommend this book.  At no time did I feel deficient in what I was doing and at no times did Darlene ever demean others for their decisions.  She simply guides us to realize that we are called to better through God.  

So I'm going to do it again. This time though I'm not alone. I'm actually doing it with 3 other friends. I wasn't originally invited either, I pushed my way in.....which is just my M.O. My friends don't mind though. They're excited to have my join. Not that I would care, either way. Ok, I would care if it upset them, but it hasn't. What is it you ask? The 3 in 30 Challenge. 

It's been about a year since I have participated. Things have changed, like it's home. But the rules remain the same. I am to pick 3 things to work on this month and blog about them each week. Here goes.....

Organization:

I found a pin from Bowl Full of Lemons blog. She has been blogging about organizing different areas of your home for the past two months. I found this challenge about a month after she started and immediately organized my kitchen cupboards. I have enjoyed the organization as I can find things and everything has a home. I especially love my coffee/tea station above my Keurig. My intention was to keep going weekly, but I fell off the bandwagon as soon as I jumped on it. So I want to continue to on. 

I won't be doing the garage as we don't have one, so I will be skipping week two and moving down the list. This month I will be working on my pantry, office, laundry room and master bedroom.

Health:

I really need to lose some weight. Ok, I really need to lose 20 lbs. Don't panic my goal is not to lose 20 lbs this month, though that would awesome. I really just want to work on why I am overeating and get some new healthy habits going. I bought Made to Crave a year ago, along with the study guide. I've only done week one. For some reason, I never get past the first week. This month I liked to finish up to week four.

I'm also going to follow the Lean program. Again I bought it and only got through the first week.  This is not a diet, but a program of getting healthy eating habits into your lifestyle in 30 days. I won't be following everything she suggests as she is a vegan and pushes that lifestyle. I really enjoy meat. So on the days she suggests substituting veggies for meat, I will do it for the day, but won't do it for the duration.

Yelling:

This is one of my original 3 in 30 challenge goals. I'm still yelling. I don't want to be that person. I don't want to be a nag to my husband or children. There is nothing positive that comes from yelling. In fact the only thing that comes from yelling is my kids yelling. This has been happening too much around here lately. I read the Duggar's book “A Love that Multiplies”. Michelle Duggar doesn't yell when she's angry. She whispers. I'm going to try this. I am also not going to yell to call them upstairs, but go and get them. Nothing annoys me as asking one of the kids to get the others and having them yell at them. I need to emulate good manners to get my kids to change too.

Come join in at Welcome to Our Good Life and make some good changes