G and As : Weeks 2 and 3

Ok, so I admit...I'm behind. I should've sent these out 4 days ago....can I tell you this week has been challenging?!

Online orders, computer viruses, and pinching pennies got the best of me!

Please bear with me as I struggle to catch up with myself. ;)

Here's what I did, didn't do, and plan to do for last week and this week.







So, how did you do with YOUR goals?...what great things did you accomplish?

Hot Dog! Weekly Meal Planner...

So I've kind of done this manually for the past two weeks, but it wasn't working that well for me...as I found out on Friday in the midst of trying to prepare pizza dough while running out of flour. Sigh. When I say manually, I mean that I've tried my hand at jotting down and even using Excel half-hazardly to come up with ideas of meals for the week. All attempts at doing this to-date have failed.
So as my dough mixture waited for my husband to make two failed trips to the grocery store, my patience got a little less than thin.
Of course, my resulting extra crispy pizza crust could've been avoided if I'd planned a little better by checking the pantry before stirring in the kitchen. I would've have realized long before Friday at 6pm that I was out of pasta sauce and all-purpose flour.
Nevertheless, we ate...and the boys were still relatively pleased with their chicken-pepperoni-bell pepper-cheese-and-tomato creation despite my oh-so-crunchy crust.
So I ran across this today, a new and improved version to what I was using before. This trusty meal planner allows you to enter in your own menu items and then leaves a front tab to retrieve those same items via a drop down menu so that you can plan for the week.
Now, if I had a DROID or iPhone instead of my almost obsolete by some acocunts Blackberry, I'm sure I'd find a trusty app to do all of this and have it right at my fingertips in a matter of minutes. Which reminds me...if any of you t\great folks out there can either:
1. Recommend an app that will work on my BB and plan my meals, while creating a grocery list, puh-LEASE let me know, or
2. Recommend an app that works on a DROID/Iphone that does the above...which will finally convince me to upgrade, I'd love you forever. :)
So anyway, I don't know how you're meal planning is going for this week, but I feel like I'm almost caught up, thanks to this handy husband's tool!
See for yourself! This Excel sheet can be downloaded in the format of a weekly/monthly layout and is quite handy. Here's a glimpse at ours so far for this week.

Thanks Jon and Maria Wittwer!!!
Photo Credit: Pinterest

You Say Its Ya Birthday?!

We're celebrating a birthday today here at Heaven Sown. :)
So...to all of our fellow dreamers out there celebrating another great day in the month of January, take some time today to do what you do best...after all, that's what God created you for!

As a man thinketh...

So, I just started reading this book as my first book for 2012 tonight...and um, I really think you'll want to add it to your reading list if you're looking for an introspective collection of intense thoughts on how you yourself can change your destiny.

Bestselling classic, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

Yes, you've probably heard the adage before...but it never hurts to get a great reminder of your own ability to be the difference you're looking for elsewhere.

Even better news? The Kindle edition is still available for free here on Amazon. Dontcha just love free?!

Oh, and if you don't have a Kindle...it's ok, Amazon is just so wonderful that they have an eReader that you can download to your phone or PC!

There you have it...no excuse not to download this nugget to make 2012 better than you'd already imagined!

Photo Credit: Life As We Know It

G and As: Weeks 1 and 2

So, to hold ourselves more accountable and GET THINGS DONE in 2012, we set out to document our G&As (goals and accomplishments) publicly and let you watch us as we cross things off our list! I'm hoping somehow our ebbs and flows will encourage you to do the same.
Sidenote: All of our personal goals aren't listed here...but a good bit of the ones that we are trying to hold ourselves accountable for are ...so if you see gaps our question why something looks like its missing...that probably purposeful. :)
You can see our overall list of goals for 2012 here. We're trying to take bite-sized portions to make the seemingly overwhelming hopes a little more attainable. Overall, a good week..but with a birthday in a matter of minutes, I'm excited to see how promising Week 2 will be.





How are your 2012 goals coming along? Photo Credit: Happy Deliveries on Etsy

12 Books for 2012

I shared with you here that I wanted to try to encourage myself 12x harder this year. It's funny because I hate to say it, but once I started having kids, my reading consisted more of thumbing through a few Parenting magazines during well/sick-check visits...and yep, that's about it. So, in keeping with my good intentions, here's the list that I've created from a few folks who inspire me to try a little harder everyday.
You'll notice that an ebook and audio book are on my list. Never done tried either of those either...evidently Amazon gives away, yes, gives away some kindle reader versions of books from time to time...so at this very moment Go-Getter by is one of them! I don't even have a Kindle, but they actually allow you to download a free e-reader for your phone or PC! Who knew?! I love FREE!! Just sharing, for those of you caught back in the stone ages with me.
Did any of these books make it to your reading list?
1. The Art of Non-Conformity
2. 48 days to the work you love

3. Go getter (free kindle ebook)
4. Goals by Brian Tracy

5. The Me Project, Kathi Lipp

6. Crazy Love


7. Entreleadership, D. Ramsey

8. A Confident Heart, Renee Swope

Yeah, I know, I stopped at 8. I have a feeling that as my year continues that I'll decide on the final four...based either off of these great reads above or other recommendations from you, so yes, that was a purposeful decision. I'll keep you posted, though as the year goes on.


Optional reads for finalization in the near and distant future:
Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel and Brilliance
Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
The 4-hour Work Week Tomity Ferriss
One Simple Idea: Stephen Key
Linchpin
Quitter
Guerilla Marketting
10 Habits of Happy Mothers
A new Kind of Normal, Carol Kent
Between a Rock and a Grace Place, Carol Kent
When I Lay my Isaac Down, Carol Kent
The Help (audio book)


Happy Reading! Oh, and how are those goals of yours coming?

Unity in 2012 and how we are turning over a new leaf

As I type this, I must admit I'm a little nervous about publicizing something that may backfire in my face a few months from now. We all read about resolutions...and truthfully, I hardly ever make any. Sure, I resolve to make little improvements here and there, but usually little is written...and most is hardly ever thought of again. For instance, I don't even remember resolving to do anything last year. Yikes! Fast forward to the end of 2011, my husband and I decided to partner to do things a little different for 2012.
How? Might you ask?
Our task: to create a list of goals TOGETHER and write them down!
I know...doesn't seem like quite a stellar concept, but now that we've entered this 7th year of our marriage, I felt a little more anxiety to purpose to do things in our household with a more unified approach.
So where did I go to get inspiration to make this actually happen?
...but to the ultimate planner/scheduler/wife/WAHM herself, Crystal over at Money Saving Mom. I'm often impressed with how she manages to juggle it all...and also for how frank she is when a few eggs drop in between. Over the years, she's chronicled her goals and how she's grown here and here and I admit, I'm truly impressed with her efforts. So much so, that I thought we'd make an effort for our household as well.
I heard a scripture recently...funny how you can hear a scripture over and over and then one day it has more meaning to you.
In the 133rd division of Psalm, the Good Book reads as follows:

1Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!
2It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard,coming down upon the edge of his robes.
3It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forevermore.

Well, this is our "scripture" for 2012 and I believe our household will be all the better because of our purposed focus on being UNIFIED in 2012. Call us shallow, but we also believe that where we unified, the Lord will bless us...so what better way bless our household that to purpose to be on one accord, right?
We proclaimed this unity in our holiday cards...and now here for our followers.
To get a jumpstart, in the last 2 weeks of 2011 we came together and actually agreed on a few things. Disagreed on a couple too...but did so amicably and here's what we came up with.

Priority 1: Personal
1. Encourage myself in literature (read 12 inspiring books) this year.
2. Diet: Drink atleast 6 glasses of water per day
3. Sleep: Get at least 7 hours of sleep per day
4. Cross one item off of my bucket list...
lunch or dinner with a millionaire.
5. Make progress toward a 9 to 5 career change to be our own boss.

Priority 2: Marriage
1. Dinner Date once a month with Nat.
2. Do lunch once a week with Nat.
3. Read two books together..and yes, he gets to choose one.
4. Attend one weekend getaway/ marriage retreat.
5. Create more options to enjoy ourselves more as a couple.

Priority 3: Children
1. Incorporate reading in bedtime routine.
2. Have a once-a-month outing with each son individually.
3. Encourage weekly game/movie night.
4. Continue to create a true “family” dynamic,
in spite of our blended status
5. Create more options to enjoy ourselves more as a family

Priority 4: Ministry/ Friendships
1. Potluck once a month.
2. Participate in corporate prayer.
3. Work on CD project with completion by 12/2012.
4. Organize 4 Oh Give Thanks Celebration events
(Feb, May, Aug, November).
5. Organize My Brother’s Keeper Community Fundraising events
(September).

Priority 5: Financial
1. Continue to tithe: 10%.
2. Contribute to ministry building fund.
3. Eliminate consumer debt
(1 car purchased in November 2011 and 1 credit card that we’ve held on to forever).
4. Start payments on school loans.

Priority 6: Business
1. Create weekly blogging plan.
2. Officially publish book, Shhh! Maybe It's God Speaking.
3. Participate in local bridal expo. Which to date has been incredibly difficult with
two 9 to 5 jobs and 3 young kids running around
..but where there's a will, there's a way!
4. Participate in Christian event expo.
5. Launch local business showcase event.

Wow...so we did it...made these public for all to see...guess now there's nothing left but to do it!
In the coming weeks, I'll share how we are applying Crystal's tried and true methods of breaking our goals down into bite-sized chunks so that we can actually have something to show for this html code here.
Stay tuned!
What are YOUR goals for 2012? Do share, mon frer :)