Goals

One thing I want to start doing for myself is setting small, attainable goals on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and tracking my progress. I've seen other bloggers doing this and I love reading their's and seeing what they are up to. It gives me ideas on things I might want to do as well.

So here is my list of goals for this week:

1. Read my Bible and have my quiet time every day. I am doing a reading plan through YouVersion.com that has a little devotional reading to accompany the scripture. Then I do my Bible reading plan which is currently reading through the Bible in 3 years (but my goal is to do it in 1.5 years).

2. Exercise 5 times. I'll do my C25K running 3 times and I want to do two other workouts that include strength training and HIIT (high intensity interval training). I also try to do at least one small strength training circuit on the days I do my running. I feel like strength training is going to play a big factor in my ability to lose fat, almost more so than the cardio, based on the research I've been reading.

3. Go to bed by 10pm at least 5 nights this week.

4. Do one thing to help someone else who has a need.

5. Read 2 chapters in One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp (I'm about 1/3 of the way through it but can't read a whole lot in one sitting because it takes a while to think about what I read and really "get" everything - but I'm loving it so far!)

6. Do a load of laundry every other day.

7. Load my dishwasher and run it each night and put the dishes away first thing in the morning. Seems like it would be easy to adopt this habit since it makes things so much easier but so far, I have not done well with this!

8. Cook at least 3 "big" meals. The goal here is to make enough so that there are left overs for the other days. I'm counting the spaghetti I made Saturday since I'll be eating that for lunch today (or dinner). The other two meals are yet to be determined but one of them will include boneless, skinless chicken breast of which I have a lot!

8. Lose my 1.5 lbs that I'm trying to lose per week using myfitnesspal.com.

It seems like a lot of goals for me as I look over the list but these are things I usually do in my normal week but am not always faithful with. I want to make sure these things get done, especially my Bible/devotions and my exercise.

I should probably put something family related on there as well, like spending more time with my kids and husband, but we have been having so much time together lately, that I don't feel like I have to put it on my list at this point. Once school starts back up and I'm working again, it will probably be something I will have to put extra effort into. Until then, I'm going to enjoy my extra time with them!

What are your goals? Do you make weekly or monthly goals for yourself? What are your categories? I didn't categorize mine this time but I think I will next time. It will make it easier to remember I think.

I'll leave you with a picture of me and Brooklyn this morning:

The BIG Decision

My last post two weeks ago was stating that my sister and I were not going to be joining forces on our blogs like we had originally planned. She is busy with having just had her fourth and final baby and feels like the blog world had to be put on hold for her. I totally support that decision! She has her hands full!

I also shared with you guys that I wasn't sure whether I was going to be continuing with my blog here at Domestic Delirium. I had been having major blog-writer's-block and lack of motivation. So I decided to make it a matter of prayer as to whether I was going to continue blogging or walk away from the blog world and follow in my sister's footsteps, so to speak.

As soon as I wrote that post last week, I was overcome with the desire to write more posts. I suddenly had tons of ideas of things to write about (I didn't write them down though so I have probably already forgotten half of them). That's how things go right? When you think you might lose something, you want it more suddenly.

With that in mind, I've come to this conclusion. I DO want to keep my blog going. I've been meditating on Psalm 37:5 for the past couple of weeks. It says:

"Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:5


I don't think I ever fully committed my blog to the Lord. I think I thought it was kind of a silly thing to bother Him with. Why would he care about my little blog that wasn't really going to amount to anything? I never sat down and prayed over what to write, how to word things or what God wanted me to share with my readers. I feel now that if I commit my ways (aka - this blog) to the Lord, He is going to bring to pass what I'm desiring, which is a fulfilling blog that brings glory to Him and is a creative outlet for myself.

When I originally switched over to this domain and new blog name "Domestic Delirium", it was because I was leaving the teaching field and staying home with my kids. I wanted it to be a fun place to write about my learning to become a housewife.  The problem with that now is that I've gone back to work. I stayed home for Layla's first 9 months of life and then realized that I wasn't cut out to be home full-time. I started teaching again but only part time (two days a week) at a private, Christian school. I was thrilled! (and still am!)

So I'm keeping my blog name because I still find it appropriate for myself. I have not mastered the domestic. My home is far from being pictured in any magazines or featured on anyone's blog for decoration ideas. HA! That would be opposite day if that happened. *snicker*

I'm working on a rather longish post about the struggle I went through for the 9 months I was a SAHM and what brought me to the point of going back to work. I believe it will help other moms who either already work and struggle with guilt for not staying home, or moms who stay home but want to get a job because they enjoy working. It's easy to get caught up in all the "shoulds" of motherhood and not focus on what God's plan is for ourselves. It's hard not to compare ourselves with other moms who are seemingly everything we are not. I struggle with this more than anyone will ever know. But I'm working on it. I'm working on being the best mother I can be to my children in the circumstances of my life. I believe that's what God wants for each of us. And that is what I want my blog to be about...and lots of other fun stuff!

I hope you'll stay with me and send any moms over that you think could use this encouragement.

Praying for My Blog

In case you didn't notice, I took down the post announcing the coming together of mine and my sister's blogs. This project has been put on permanent and indefinite hold for now. With her life being as hectic as it is after having her fourth child (a boy finally!), she decided after much prayer and thought that she needed to step away from blogging for the time being. I fully support her decision and know that it is what will be best for her. I will be praying that her life will calm down and she can put the urgent and important things first and not stressing about the things that aren't so essential; like having a blog.

But what about me? I've obviously not been doing great at updating my blog. I've also been busy and been in a bit of a blog funk. I still have the desire to blog. I still read other blogs and wish I had the words and pictures that other bloggers have. Yet my blog remains blank for weeks at a time. I have several unpublished posts that still need editing and adding to.

I blame it on my perfectionism; if I can't do something near-perfect, I don't want to do it at all.

Great excuse...right? Right...

So I am giving myself a week of prayer and meditation over my blog to decide if I'm going to continue with it or give it up for the time being. I know it doesn't seem like such a big deal to most of you, but for me, it is. If I'm going to have a blog and put time into writing posts, I want them to mean something and to be thought-provoking or at least mildly interesting! I don't want to write just to write. I don't want every post to be about my kids and what new things they are up to right now (although there would be a lot of that!). I want it to reflect the name I chose, which is comical, but was also chosen carefully to convey a concept.

I ask that if you will, pray for me as I make this decision. And know that it's not just about my blog, it's about all the things going on in my life.  Deciding what needs to stay and what needs to go. What is priority and what is fluff. What God wants my focus to be on and what He wants me to cast away.

A blog isn't a bad thing. But even a good thing can get in the way of something great that God wants me to do. Until I make a final decision on my blog, I'll have this little nagging bit of debris in my brain telling me to write about this or that. I thoroughly enjoy writing and have always enjoyed the challenge of writing a paper and supporting my arguments and pointing out reasons why my theory was correct.

If I'm going to have a blog, I want to be able to enjoy my writing and look forward to it and not just do it out of "duty" because it's expected. That's kind of where I've fallen lately. I feel like I should write about my kids and these things they do and about the new domestic discoveries I've made on doing laundry or cleaning my floors or any other number of things I've discovered since leaving full-time work and being home more.

But is it the best use of my time right now? Is it what God really wants from me or does he want me doing something else with this burning desire to write? I honestly don't know. So I will pray and seek a definitive answer from Him over the next week. I will search the scriptures to see what He shows me my priorities should be and if there is another place I should be using this desire for writing and creating thoughts in a way more fitting to His will for me. This blog may be exactly that place, but I won't know unless I put it at His feet and ask.

I will post again when I have that answer. Thanks for the patience and loyalty to my blog. I can see by my traffic that I do get people on here regularly and I don't want to disappoint.

God bless,