Yep, Its January...

Fact: Even when I don't plan to sit down in January and make "New Years Resolutions"....I end up trying to revamp my life and basically make "New Years Resolutions".

Tyson and I sat down a few days ago and decided to change our lives for the better and we pulled out two sources to help us along our journey. (I honestly think we did a good job thinking this through.)

Source 1: Preach My Gospel
After consulting we decided to do a few things when making our goals....

1. Pray about it and pray for help.
2. Write them down and consult with our "companion".
3. Take accountability for our actions.
   

Source #2: The Power of Less

1. Simplify our lives to make room for our goals.
2. Work on one goal at a time.
3. Write three "most important tasks" to put my time and effort towards daily. One helping to achieve my one ultimate goal. After those are done, then work on others.
4. Expect setbacks and don't let them discourage you from your goal.
   

Let me define "Simply our lives" because I view this as important. Another way of putting this is "Getting rid of the unnecessary". In my life, this is what I'm ridding of:

• Only spend 10 minutes a day on the computer (email, blogging, facebook, twitter, etc.) except for the occasional "writing a blog post" AFTER my other "most important tasks" are finished.
• I'm only able to watch movies or TV when with my husband at night when baby's asleep.
• I'm only allowing myself 8 hours of sleep a night, no more.
  

My One Goal: Read and FINISH "The Infinite Atonement". This may not seem like it should be on my "Most important goal to be working on" list...but trust me, I believe it is. I haven't read it but started and it has already changed me spiritually. I have a HORRIBLE habit of starting books and never finishing them because I lack patience, lack concentration, and lack reading comprehension skills. I believe this goal will help me in all three areas.

Other Changes:
Other ways Tyson and I are changing our lives. These aren't really "goals" but they either are to help us out and be conscience of. Although, some may become goals after finishing my first.

Fact: A slight bit of OCD is good to have in one's life.

Disagree? I've been inspired by 2 people: My sister Becca and my best friend Rachel. Both openly admit that they have a problem with OCD...and both have a very clean house.

My Project: The Kitchen

My sister never uses her dishwasher because she can't stand to have dishes dirty for that length of time. I've seldom been to her house where I've seen a crumb on the counter, a dish uncleaned, and the floor swept. If I have seen these happen, I had promise by the end of my stay they will be gone.

I've decided to get rid of my fear of hand washing dishes.

I still use my dishwasher. Let's not be unrealistic here. But I have made a list of "rules" that seemed reasonable to follow. Such rules include "rinse and put any dirty dishes in dishwasher right after use", "if dishwasher is full, hand wash", "if dishwasher is clean, unload it asap", "if I eat anywhere besides the kitchen, take my dish back to the kitchen", "wipe counters and tables after preparation and meals", and "clean any unfortunately mishaps asap because they WILL become harder to clean later".

I've been doing this for a few weeks now and I've learned 2 things:

1. Becoming OCD has been quite a chore....but honestly has become much easier as time passes.
2. I've in turn become a much happier person because my husband will tell you that if my kitchen isn't clean then I am much more prone to be unhappy.

Fact: When you use cash and take away the little plastic cards, you can't spend more than your budget.

Tyson and I used to budget using "cash only", went astray, and are now back to "cash only". We never owned a credit card but our debit cards are being packed away. I can't spend what I don't have. Period.

Fact: I feel better when I look better.

This is a sensitive subject for me.

1st Pregnancy: I cried several times because I felt "fat"...I know, pregnancy is different than fat.
2nd Pregnancy: I've cried at least once because I've seen how fat and ugly I got the first time and don't want it to happen again.

1st Pregnancy: I didn't know how to use make up...not really.
2nd Pregnancy: I now wear make up and make sure I do it.

1st Pregnancy: I hardly owned any pregnancy clothes...those I wore were borrowed.
2nd Pregnancy: I asked for all new pregnancy clothes for Christmas. I wear them.

1st Pregnancy: I had a large family picture session while pregnant. While I was there someone hurt my feelings saying something like "Wow, talk about wearing something that makes you look big!"
2nd Pregnancy: I have an upcoming wedding to attend....meaning, pictures. I shall do my utmost to look good, be happy, and not take offense at others.

1st Pregnancy: I never exercised. I felt sick. I felt tired. I don't like exercise.
2nd Pregnancy: I'm exercising, not always consistently but I am exercising. When I exercise I don't feel as sick. I don't feel as tired. I feel better about myself. I start enjoying it.

1st Pregnancy: I avoided the camera like the plague.
2nd Pregnancy: I will not stuff my camera away for 9 months because I fear myself.

I've decided that I'm getting rid of my fear of the ugliness of pregnancy.

Well, there you have it. So let it be written, so let it be done. And for the few of you who actually read through this post, bless you.