Christmas Bucket List 2012

At the beginning of fall, I posted a list of things I wanted to do before the season ends. I made it through several of those things, and I'm not disappointed that I didn't get through all of them - I'm just glad I got to do the ones I did!

The last thing on that list was to make a list for winter. But I've decided to narrow it down to a Christmas list for now. I'll make a post-winter one after Christmas.

Christmas Bucket List 2012

Bake and decorate Christmas cookies with Chewie

Decorate the tree

Drive around looking at Christmas lights

Listen to Christmas music all the time

Finish making plans for our honeymoon trip

Plan and attend a few Christmas parties

Finish the lucrative "candy cane" project (to be posted soon, I hope!)

Make a daily habit of remembering Jesus is the whole point of this season

Go caroling

So that's it for now!  Look forward to several posts in the near future!

Weight-ing

The Chew-ster and I joined a gym this week, something we've been planning to do for a while now.  And, if you remember, one of my goals for this year (2012-2013) is to work out on a consistent basis.  

Sure, some of my motivation is weight-loss.  I don't think many people are actually at their ideal weight.  And I have a health issue that should be resolved with weight-loss (according to my doctor).  

But mostly, this is about being healthy and fit.  I want to have a heart that's in good condition.  And I want to be more effective in ministry by preserving this temple.  

I decided, though, that I need a way to measure the progress I've made.  And I think the best way to do that is by counting the lost pounds and deciding how many of those lost pounds it will take for me to be at a desirable weight.  

My weight-loss goal is a little lofty, but it would put me at a healthy weight for my height and age.  The magic number is

45 lbs.

I'd like to lose 45 lbs.  I arrived at this number by simply subtracting my ideal weight from what I weigh now (according to the scale at the gym yesterday).  

I don't necessarily have an end date in mind for this - my plan is to work until I reach it and then work to maintain it.  

Fortunately, Chewie and I are working out together because our health is important to the both of us.  And I can already tell that he's going to keep me on my a-game, even when I don't want to be held to it.  

I've also decided to visually track how much weight I've lost for the visual learner inside of me.  My plan is to use something like this: 

Source

And Chewie and I will be supplementing our workouts with healthier eating (despite the fact that I bought Reese's Pumpkins on sale this morning), which means sticking to a stricter low-carb diet for me.  

One of my good friends from high school - Nathan - started blogging his weight-loss journey a couple of years ago and has had remarkable success - you can check out The Fotographing Fat Kid here.  He and his awesome wife, Megan, have been such an inspiration to me as they've shed pounds and reached some previously unattainable goals.  Nathan weighs in weekly and posts to his blog the progress he's made, and I think this is something I'll do regularly.  I might not post it to my blog every week because this isn't necessarily the place for that.  But I'll definitely give updates every once in a while and may even post a sidebar of my weekly progress for those who are interested (similar to how Nathan does on his blog).  

Last thing, before I leave ya, I'd like to give a shout-out to my fantastic mom who has embarked on a weight-loss journey of her own and has hit some awesome goals and is still working on more!  Way to go, mamacita!  

Happy weight-ing!

Fall Bucket List 2012

I was browsing blog land yesterday and ran across The Dainty Squid, who has the cutest nail tutorials by the way.  While browsing her posts, I noticed one she wrote about her goals for the fall.

And I was inspired to write a list of my own.

Fall Bucket List 2012

Convince Chewie to get a dog!

Enjoy a pumpkin latte over a good book

Carve a pumpkin with Chewie

Photograph the changing colors

Make at least one fall decoration

Finish knitting my green cowl

Get lost in a corn maze with Chewie

Bake something fall themed

Make dinner for Chewie some night

Start and finish "The Divine Mentor"

Bake treats for Chewie to share at work

Have a picnic with Chewie in the fall weather

Book our honeymoon cruise trip

Look through our wedding album with Chewie with a glass of our fave wine

Make a goal list for winter 2012!

So that's that.  They're mostly silly things that I just want to make sure I do.  It's more a list to remind me to enjoy the little things in life and savor each moment.

Happy fall-ing!

2012 - 2013 Goals

Every year, our church hosts a Leadership Summit for leaders in our church where we develop leadership in our existing leaders as well as those who are interested in being in leadership at our church.

One of the main exercises during Leadership Summit is to set goals for the coming church year, and they're broken up into three different categories: personal spiritual/discipleship goals, personal goals, and ministry/ministry team goals.

This year, we have to turn one copy into the office, one to another person for accountability, and keep an additional copy for ourselves.  I thought, for a little bit of additional accountability, I would post mine here with a bit of an explanation for each one.

So here goes...

Personal Spiritual/Discipleship Goals

1. Pray for my lost friend, Susie (I changed her name in the event that she ever actually reads this blog post), every day and invite her to every Big Day.  -- Susie has been my friend for a little over a year now, and I can see that she desperately needs to feel the love of Jesus.  I admit that I haven't been consistent in my prayers for her, and I'd like that to change.  (Also, Big Days are "special" services at our church about every quarter where we focus on inviting visitors and sometimes have special events attached to them, like a bbq picnic.)
2. Meditate on a Psalm each day for one year. -- The more worship leadership magazines and articles I read, the more convicted I am about focusing more on the Psalms.  So I'd like to make it a goal to incorporate them into my life on a more consistent basis.
3. Read through our church's daily reading guide every day. -- I'm not always the best at reading these, and I should be.  There's something special to me about reading the same parts of Scripture that other people in my church are reading at the same time.  Something special in the one-ness of it.

Personal Goals

1. Eat no more than 40 carbs daily through January 1st. -- As many of you know, my doctor has put me on a low carb diet, which I did pretty successfully in the beginning.  And then I visited family in Texas...and then got married...and then life happened some more.  So I've really slacked lately, and it's important to me and my health to do this.  I limited it to January 1st because I'd like to lower my carb intake even more by then.  I realize this is not going to be an easy goal for me to achieve because I love me some carbs, but I believe it is attainable.
2. Join a gym and work out either (a) an hour 3 days a week or (b) a half hour 5 days a week (depending on my schedule). -- I don't like exercising much and would rather go through life without doing it, but I recognize that I'm called to be healthy because my body is a temple.  And I need to take care of that temple.  This is a goal that Chewie and I will probably be working on together, which really excites me.  No one gets me motivated like my hubby.  

Ministry/Ministry Team Goals

1. Add 2 more volunteers to the sound/media team. -- We are kind of bare bones with our sound team right now, and I really need one or two more people to help with staffing the sound/media on Sunday mornings.  This would allow for more of a rotation, instead of a weekly position.
2. Visit a youth for lunch at school once a month (at least). -- Since we don't have a youth pastor, Hubs and I are sort of filling that role.  And I remember how awesome it was when my youth pastor would visit us during our lunch hour (and sometimes even brought a pizza).  I feel that it's one - relatively simple - way for me to show the youth I love them and care for them.  Plus, I'm hoping it will help bring home a little more that our faith should be real even during school hours.

So these are my goals for now.  There's a chance they'll be revised a bit, but I think the main ideas are here to stay.  And you may not care - and that's okay.  I just needed to post this for myself more than anything.  The idea of failing these goals now that they're on the interwebs is enough to keep me motivated.  

Thanks for reading!  And I hope maybe you're inspired to create some goals of your own!