Goal Revamp

First of all, thank you for reading my blog. I know who some of you are. (Hope that doesn't sound stalker style creepy.) I would love to have some followers. I promise I won't try to sell you anything or lure you into a cult or multi level marketing plan or fill your inboxes with spam. So, if you're enjoying the posts, go ahead and follow me.

I made it to bed before 11 last night AND left my phone alone until this morning. Woo hoo! Major victory! I'm honestly worse than a teenager about playing on my phone. It's just so tempting with the gazillion different things I can do and learn. And so easy to jump from one thing to another. Not that I'd ever do that or anything. ;-)

Since I struggle with time management, I thought it would be helpful to get back to working on goals as a way to use my time more wisely. I wrote down a few goals for this summer, but decided to do some tweaking since in general, they weren't really stirring up any passion in me. So here are my newly revised goals. Some of them will take longer, as in a year or two, maybe even more than that to complete, but I figure I can at least get farther down the road by the time the weather changes.

1. Become a professional counselor.
2. Take a ministry basics class.
3. Launch my kids out into adulthood as responsible, healthy, happy productive members of society.
4. Decorate my house. (There currently is no theme or scheme or consistency of any kind.)
5. Get my driver's license.
6. Get to a healthy weight. (Not going for an exact final number yet, but I know I need to lose at least 100 lbs, possibly as much as 135.)
7. Go to the beach at least once a week, at least until fall weather arrives. Here it is almost July, and I haven't been once!
8. Start and oversee a marriage ministry.

So today, I wrote down an action step I can take toward each of those. My plan is to do my morning routine, and then my 5 things on my to do list, and after that work on action steps toward my goals.

Here's what that looked like today:

In order to become a professional counselor, the first step is for me to get a Master's in a psychology or social work field. I've already started the application process for the online MA in Marriage and Family Therapy through Liberty University, a private Christian school in Virginia. But I still need my recommendation forms filled out, my personal statement form completed, and my financial aid application completed, so my first step is to get those done. Today, I started working on that.

My ministry basics class won't start til this fall, so there really isn't anything to do there.

As far as my kids go, I started reading First Aid for Parents of Teens and Up available for free from Focus on the Family. I'm planning to spend time with my family tomorrow afternoon doing a scavenger hunt at the mall.

Decorating the house will be a HUMUNGOUS undertaking, but I'm taking it one small step at a time. The baseboards in our bedroom are mostly missing because Jim started to pull them off since part of them were already broken. I'm going to ask him to finish pulling off the rest, so at least all the walls will look the same. We will need new ones, but first the old ones have to come off.

Ok so the reason I don't have my driver's license will sound so weird to you, but I'm sharing my moment of vulnerability to any person who wants to read... I have a phobia of driving. Yes, I know it's illogical, inconvenient, and highly unusual, but that's the deal. Anyone who knows anything about anxiety disorders and phobias knows they don't disappear just cuz someone tells you they're irrational. Logical thinking and emotional response are two different brain areas. So today I took a practice written test to get my permit but only got a 75%. You need an 80 to pass, so I need to brush up on some of the "How many feet away and what the fines are" type of questions. Yep, it was the numbers questions that tripped me up. No big surprise there. Math and I aren't exactly besties! Kind of ironic that my oldest ended up taking math classes beyond calculus and thought they were great fun!


The weight loss thing is a BIG issue. Sorry, just couldn't resist the pun. There's so much conflicting info out there about what does and doesn't work. I've already started the exercise piece. I'm still considering surgery but honestly am not at the point where I 100% feel ready to commit to it yet. People seem to think surgery is the easy way out, but I actually think it seems MUCH harder, with all the different requirements you have to follow after the procedure. I like that it's fast and that it works and that you don't get very hungry. But anyone who thinks it's the easy way out, doesn't really know the details. That's not to say, I'm opposed to it. But as of this time, I'm not pursuing it. That could change. For now, I'm going to start with making sure I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and limit junky, highly processed foods. My goal for the upcoming week is to stick to 1500 calories or less at least 5 days each week. Will that be enough? Is that the best plan? I don't know, but it's a start. I can always make adjustments. Not doing the vegan or the paleo thing at this time cuz I really like eating from all kinds of food groups. Again, one or the other or modified versions of them might be something I do in the future, but for now, I'll start by reducing my calories and see how that goes.


Although I very much want to relocate to be by the ocean, it doesn't look like that's on the agenda for anytime soon. At least not as of tonight. I'd be totally open to that changing on a dime, but despite being nearly 2000  or more miles away in any direction from the sea, we have a crazy number of lakes. Did I mention I live in Minnesota? When they say "Land of 10,000 Lakes" it's not an exaggeration. Actually, it's more like 13,000. So, there are plenty of beaches to visit, one within a couple miles of my house. So, unless something unforeseen comes up, I'm planning to go on Sunday afternoon. Unless it rains or tornados or something else beyond my control.

I emailed Family Life Ministries for direction regarding how to start a church marriage ministry.

So there you have it. I'd love to hear if you have any recommendations for resources on any of my goals. I'd also love to hear what your goals are. It would be great if we could cheer each other on! Have a blessed weekend! And remember to follow me and share your thoughts or questions in the comments section.