intentional

well, hello 2015! jumped right out of nowhere, didn'tcha. and now it's almost a week in and I'm still thinking about what to blog about. yes, with 8 children, we have a lot I could be blogging about. but a lot of it that I don't.

I'm rather disappointed to read my resolutions from 2014 and have the same feelings. I'm taking that as a "pull it together, Courtney!"  :|

moving right along...

my sister, Casey, has a great post on her blog currently regarding being the 8% this 2015 year. she has seriously inspired me when it comes to blogging and doing better overall. while watching the video she posted, I came to the conclusion that I need to 1) have less 'goals' and 2) have an ongoing list of these goals so I can move from one goal to the next once one is complete. SSSOOO here goes:

ONE
live intentional:
I want more than anything to be present in my daily life with the kids. More often than not I'm distracted by blogging, Instagramming, people I have no control over, situations I have no control over, why I'm not getting enough done around the house, why I'm so unorganized, why why why, why not why not why not, blah blah blahhhh... 

I'm not sure how to clear these distractions, but I'm going to give it my all. Less worrying aimlessly. Less for others, more for my family. I realize that sounds completely selfish as I also want to be able to serve and help others more because I think we're all called to help others in some way, BUT I think in order to serve others, you need to have your faith and family in check first. SO... I need to be much more intentional about all time and energy used.

TWO
read:
part 1: I ran across this Bible reading plan, printed it, and I'm diving right in. I don't like to put it out there that I'm attempting to read the Bible (again actually... only made er half way last year), but I feel as though if I don't put it out there, I'll never finish it.  so attempt two, in full swing.

part 2: "book club!" This was probably a coffee morning idea with the sisters, but we just recently picked a second book. Mallory picked and finished the first pick... first... but she's a cheater so we're not really counting it ;) 

book club: the idea is to pick a book, read it in a month, and who ever finishes first gets Starbucks or a meal out (to be determined)... on the others...  again, Mal is a cheater ;) you need to do laundry and dishes in addddddition to reading, not instead of... Meow! ;)

feel free to join along with us:
month 1) Mal's pick: Dave Ramsey's, The Total Money Makeover
month 2) Renee's pick: R.J. Palacio's, Wonder
(picking order is youngest to oldest)

This goal didn't go so well last year. I read 2 and almost a half books. :| that's progress, right? ;) I'm half way through the book club pick. I'm a slacker, but I have good intentions. I'd like to read more and nap less, because in all honesty... naps are rare for me these days because coordinating naps for the little 3 is rare :(

anddd
three
organize:
(there will probably be a million parts to this, but I'll start with only a couple... baby steps people!) :)
part 1: counters
I'm continuing with the "organize" again this year. This is usually an epic fail for me. Almost daily. In an attempt to take this baby steps at a time as well, part one of this 'journey' is going to be the counter. Decluttering. Tossing papers. Wiping it down daily. You know, all the things I should be doing daily regardless of everything else going on around here. Der.

part 2: office
My office was intended to be the organizational hub of our house/household. It most certainly is not that currently. This one is going to take some time, and I realize that. But I'd like for this to be an entire year long goal. Anything in this house that we don't know what to do with... goes in the office. I may have come to the realization that it may mean we don't necessarily neeeeeeed any of the things in that blasted office. The entirety of that office hasn't been seen in a year so why have it? I can't remember where I read it, but it really struck a chord... and it went something like this: if you lost your home tomorrow, what would you pay to replace. I came to the quick realization there isn't much I would want to replace.

so I'll end this post with this line from last years post because this sums up my 'resolutions' almost perfectly ;)

There are some things I want to continue working on, some things I want to start working on, and some things I maybe want to quit working on.

here's to a wonderful 2015!