July Goals Re-cap

LMS is getting so brave- here she's diving off the diving rock!

Since I wrote down some new goals, I thought I should track my progress at the end of each month. So here's how I did in the month of July:

(June's progress report can be found here)

A few goals under Health:
1. keep strengthening my knee and start running for longer periods of time/distance
I'm still struggling to exercise on a regular basis because we've been so busy, but now that school's started and we're on a schedule, I'm doing better.
2. train for and run at least 4 races by the end of 2012 (at least one half marathon)
No races this month, but I'm working towards a 4 mile race Labor Day weekend.
3. be more careful with my eating and lose some weight
I've lost 3 pounds so far, and am continuing to try to be careful about what I eat.

A few goals under House:
1. finish painting all the rooms
I finished the dining area, hall, upstairs hall, bath and master bedroom, except for the trimwork. More rooms to go still...
2. do the family room ceiling
We've purchased the paneling, now we just have to get going on it.
3. finish building built-in shelves in the library
Still painting the shelves.

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. stick to the schedule I've worked out, as much as possible
So far we're doing pretty good, but we're only a week and a half into it :)
2. be more consistent with violin practicing
Since we started school we're doing better because it's in our school schedule.

A few goals under Habits:
1. practice the piano more frequently
No time yet, hopefully in August...
2. index several batches every week for FamilySearch
Didn't get any done this month- my Sundays have been busy working on our adoption blog, trying to get posts written for potential birth mothers to read.
3. have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)
Still studying the Church Handbook for Leaders, but not everyday like I should- need to improve on that.

How did you do with your goals this month?

June Goals Re-Cap

The bookshelves are built and painted, now I've got to finish all the shelves so we can get the stacks of books off the floor and move the furniture around.

Since I wrote down some new goals, I thought I should track my progress at the end of each month. So here's how I did in the month of June:

A few goals under Health:
1. keep strengthening my knee and start running for longer periods of time/distance
         I started increasing distance, than life got super crazy and I didn't exercise much
2. train for and run at least 4 races by the end of 2012 (at least one half marathon)
         I ran a 5k and my knee didn't hurt
3. be more careful with my eating and lose some weight
         No weight lost yet, but I'm paying more attention to what I'm eating and how much

A few goals under House:
1. finish painting all the rooms
        Not started yet
2. do the family room ceiling
        Not started yet
3. finish building built-in shelves in the library
        Still need to caulk and paint the adjustable shelves

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. stick to the schedule I've worked out, as much as possible
       We finished the school year and are now enjoying summer break
2. be more consistent with violin practicing
        Ummm, not yet

A few goals under Habits:
1. practice the piano more frequently
        Life was way too crazy to even think about playing the piano
2. index several batches every week for FamilySearch
        Only managed to index one week out of the month
3. have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)
        I haven't started journaling yet because after my daily reading in the Book of Mormon I've been studying the Church Handbook for Leaders so I can better understand my role as Relief Society president and how the Relief Society program should work

How are you at keeping goals you make?

First 5k of the year

This past weekend I ran my first 5k of the year. I haven't run any races since the Disney Half Marathon in January, so I was excited to finally run another race. I've been patiently doing my physical therapy since December, and it has paid off. I was able to run the race without my knee hurting (yay!).

I'm a bit out of shape since my training has been limited to minimal treadmill running with no incline, and the course was hillier (hilly-er?) than I expected, so I ended up with sore calves and thighs, but there was no knee pain.

Mr M was at drill so I ended up pushing LMS in the jogger the whole race. I'm going to start her on a 5k training program, but she wasn't ready for this 5k. I was just happy they allowed jogging strollers in the race, since that meant I didn't have to find a babysitter for LMS (such a hassle).

In any case, despite being out of shape and pushing LMS up multiple hills I managed to finish the race in 39 minutes and 23 seconds. The last 5k I ran was the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, and I ran that in 32:44. I was almost 7 minutes slower this time, but I'm completely ok with that given my current level of fitness.

There was also a short kids race that LMS participated in. Isn't she so cute?

 at the beginning

at the finish

LMS always appreciates a good finisher's medal. The shinier, the better :)

This was the second race I've run while pushing LMS in the jogger, and I've realized a few things. Mainly, some people are just dumb. There were a couple people that came from behind me, and ran so close to the jogger that I had to veer away from them so as not to hit them. Really? They just went around me- they knew I was there- they couldn't have given us some space?

On the other hand, if I come up behind someone, I do need to be aware of how much space we're taking up. However, if you're as short as I am, it can be difficult to see the front tire, and thus not run into someone. Extra vigilance is required :)  Though it's really only an issue at the beginning of the race- once everyone spreads out it's not so bad.

I have my eye on a couple races to participate in the next few months, but need to hammer out our schedule before committing to anything. Are you running any races this summer?

Goals

It's been quite awhile since I posted an actual list of goals. I tried the 100 goals in 100 weeks, which had a lot of good goals on it, but my life is just too crazy right now to be dealing with that many goals.

So for now I'm limiting it to a few categories:
Health
House
Homeschool
Habits

{did you notice how I managed to use words that all start with H?}

A few goals under Health:
1. keep strengthening my knee and start running for longer periods of time/distance
2. train for and run at least 4 races by the end of 2012 (at least one half marathon)
3. be more careful with my eating and lose some weight

A few goals under House:
1. finish painting all the rooms
2. do the family room ceiling
3. finish building built-in shelves in the library

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. stick to the schedule I've worked out, as much as possible
2. be more consistent with violin practicing

A few goals under Habits:
1. practice the piano more frequently
2. index several batches every week for FamilySearch
3. have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)

How are you at keeping goals you make?

Our sad garden

the arrows are pointing to our sad squash plants

We've wanted to have a garden for years, and this year we finally managed it. Unfortunately, we're not sure how it will do.

Last fall Mr M and my dad tilled up the spot where we wanted to put in our garden, but there's so much clay and so many {large} rocks that they weren't able to accomplish much. We figured we probably wouldn't have much luck if we planted directly in the clay, so we bought some topsoil, hummus, and mulch, mixed them together and poured them into some trenches we dug. We then transplanted the squash and zucchini plants that we started in the house.

A couple weeks later we added a third row (the one on the left) with some other plants, and the difference in the rows is quite obvious. We're not sure if our dirt is getting absorbed into the clay, or what, but the dirt seems to be disappearing.

The plants are yellowing, but they have blossoms, so they haven't completely died. It'll be interesting to see how many squash and zucchini we do/don't get, as well as how well everything else does.

We're hoping to do some major landscaping in our backyard this fall, so we didn't want to do anything too big/expensive this spring. If nothing else, this will be a good learning experience.

Anyone have experience growing a garden in clay?

Discipline

I wrote this at the beginning of the month, but forgot to post it.

One of the blogs I read was talking about 'discipline' as a goal for the year. She talked about applying discipline to various parts of her life. I liked this and have been thinking about it for a few days now.

I'm pretty good about making goals and following up on them or altering them to fit my changing circumstances. However, there's always room to improve, and being more disciplined is a good way to start.

How am I going to apply discipline to my life this year?

1. I will be more disciplined in my sleep schedule (get to bed on time, wake up earlier)
2. I will be more disciplined in my workout schedule (more consistent)
3. I will be more disciplined in my eating habits (no more "fudging" and eating things I shouldn't)
4. I will be more disciplined in my daily schedule (scriptures, homeschooling, housework, etc each get the attention needed)

What are your goal(s) for this year?

Another goal to change

I only went for one run while we were gone- I was just too busy to do more.

I about died!

Holy cow, what a difference the elevation makes. Ok, that and all the sitting I'd been doing. But still...

Next fall I wanted to run the marathon that I ran two years ago, but after that short run (1.5 miles) I don't think I'll be able to do it till we move back to the mountains. I'll have to find something more local. Hopefully it'll be a fast, flat and/or downhill like that one is.