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As a follow up to my last post about how to prioritize your life, I am explaining some of my reasoning for choosing which priorities I want to focus on first in my life.  I am generally the kind of person that is ALWAYS busy and I have a hard time slowing down and enjoying life.  I am spread so thin, I feel like I don’t really get the important things done in favor of things that are less important.  I don’t want to make these goals “another thing to do”, but I really want to base my life on them and let the other things go.

I identify with this quote by Julie B. Beck, “If we spend too much time on the nice to do things and the distractions, we won’t be aligned. We have necessary things to do, things we were sent here to earth to do, and if we prioritize correctly and line up behind the Lord, we can have full confidence, that He will make us his people, He will protect us, and care for us. We can havew confidence in His promises.”

I am trying to put first things first in this order:

RELATIONSHIPS

Specifically I am trying to make more time in my life to listen to my kids and to do things together as a family (simple things – not necessarily things that are really expensive).  We have done several activities together this week like art projects, playing outside, going to a museum, and just talking.

I would like to spend more time with my husband, besides watching our favorite TV shows.  We used to go out weekly on a date and now I can’t remember the last time we have had any alone time.  I would like to reconnect on some levels to have a closer relationship.  We have been married 15 years and sometimes it takes time and effort even in adult relationships.

There are other relationships I would like to put some attention to: mainly making new friends and keeping old friends.  I have some friends from high school and college that I deeply love and keep up with on facebook, but I feel like that is not quite enough.  It’s time to give some effort to letter writing, gift giving, and personal contact!

HEALTH

I have had significant struggles with my health over the last 7 years.  I have overcome many of them through clean eating and living, but there is always room to improve.  There are two things I would like to improve on and those are:

First, eating fresh food.  We have totally revamped our food storage to be long-term so that we don’t need to eat packaged and canned foods anymore.  I enjoy preparing food, and I want it to be REAL food.  If I can’t make it from scratch, I won’t make it.  I like simple food and I don’t plan to be cooking all day long or anything that remotely resembles a lot of work.  My husband and i have worked together to make this happen on a smaller scale.  I make a hot breakfast and green smoothie for breakfast and he makes a salad for us for lunch.  It has worked out splendidly.

In the summer, I grow a large organic garden and most of our food is picked and then eaten the same day.  It saves a lot of time to not have to go to the store very often and it helps us to eat the freshest fruits and vegetables possible.

Second, I need to get outside in the sun and exercise.  I feel so much better after I have done gardening or walking/hiking.  I want to make this more of a priority every day.  My kids love it too, so why not do it together?  I bought my kids real gardening tools in their size and teach them how to grow their own food and design and plant beautiful flowers.  There’s something life-affirming about sustaining and appreciating our food and the flowers and trees that keep us alive (literally!).

I would also benefit from consistent yoga.  I get pretty stiff and that helps a lot.

SPIRITUALITY

Let’s face it, I’m lazy when it comes to putting in the effort it takes to really be spiritually fulfilled.  Honestly, I do what I have to do to get by, and that’s it.  I am embarrassed to say that, and maybe I am being a little hard on myself, but I would like to improve.  I want to pray twice a day and at mealtimes, read several chapters in my scriptures daily (as well as meaningful family scripture study), read the Sunday School and Relief Society Lessons each week, and the Ensign each month.  On top of that, make it a priority to get to the Temple once a month and do more with my calling. Does that seem like a lot?  I am already doing some of that now, but my attitude could improve.  I feel on top of the world when I am actually doing these things on a regular basis.

FUN

Wny did I add fun to this list?  I spend so much time being serious and not taking time to do fun things and it’s a major downer and makes my life seem like… well, dreary.  I am actually getting a little emotional writing this because it’s an area I need improvement on.  Sometimes, it’s ok to let things go and just have fun.  The other day, my kids and I were listening to Pandora and the song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” came on and we spontaneously belted out the words and dancied around the house.  It was so much fun and a memory that we will all treasure as it doesn’t happen as much as it should at our home.

I have signed up for a few yearly memberships in our city to help me remember to get out and have fun.  One is to a local water park and fun center, the other is to a theatre, and the last is to a local museum.

We have also started up a monthly game night with some friends which has been time away from the daily grind in which we can just let go, laugh, and have lots of fun!

EDUCATION

I am a person who loves to learn.  I love reading and learning new skills and talents.  I recently took a free class on bee-keeping.  I don’t want to keep bees, I just wanted to learn how to do it.

The other day, we got to learn about how water gets from the Provo River to our sinks.  It was fascinating and learning about it helped us meet a new friend as well as sparked an interested in touring our local water treatment plant.  Things I didn’t even think I wanted to learn about are sometimes really exciting.

The other day, I learned about how to make a video using a green screen from YouTube.  That was awesome, and I never knew how to do that before and now I do and it’s really easy!

I love to learn from reading the children’s scripture readers, it helps me read the scriptures in a new way.

I also like to learn new songs.  We are learning the story of “Wicked” right now and I am learning the songs from the Broadway play and reading the script.  It’s fun!

As I iron out these priorities, I am quick to notice that they all work together in a symbiotic way.  They seem to compliment each other nicely and hopefully care simplicity and wisdom much more than my currently daily life does.  How great life would be if we only did what was most important and let the little stuff go.  I know I won’t be perfect, but I will be trying to bring peach through prioritizing.

Continue reading]]> Hey there!  It’s a great day here where I live.  We just had a snow storm come through and clear out the nasty nasty air we had been having for the last few weeks.  I can breathe again!

Well, as you know, each month I have been working on a new parenting goal to help me become a better Mom. I call it my parenting plan and I am working on my 5th month and my 20th week.  I post about my experiences each week.  I’ve had some successes and some failures.

I had kind of slacked off for a few years while I was going through some major health issues and then later working full time and I got into some pretty bad parenting habits.  I want to be better at what I consider the most important job on earth (and sometimes the most challenging job on earth).

This month I am working on getting healthy and getting my blood moving so I actually have energy to hang out and be present with my kids.  I am working on going to the gym 3 times a week.  I confess, I only went 2 times last week.  I don’t like making excuses, because they are pointless, but I had some good ones and some bad ones too (laziness).  I will be better this week and just got back from the gym a few minutes ago.  I feel  so much better when I make the effort to go, but it’s oh so hard to get myself dressed and out of the house so early in the morning.

I have found that going to the gym consistently for a couple months now has really changed my energy level (even though I’m in my first trimester of pregnancy – which is known for pretty severe fatigue).  I have found I don’t need naps as often, which means I can get more done around the house, which means I am less stressed, which means I can give more of myself to my kids and let go and have fun.  Win Win Win.

Continue reading]]> I can’t believe we are on month 5 of the parenting plan already and so far I feel like I have made so much progress if I look back to the first month.  Baby steps are so much easier for me and I have tried to set attainable goals for myself that I can actually accomplish without too much effort.  I’m a busy Mom of 3 (and one on the way) and I don’t have a lot of spare time, so I need something that is going to be quick, easy, and effective.

This month I am working on getting my body in shape so I will have more energy to be “present” and attentive with my kids.  Last week was pretty much an epic fail, mostly because of the pregnancy and those pregnancy hormones running amuck in my body.  I have been tired and restless, but this week I’ve been able to sleep which has been a much needed reprieve.

This week I am feeling better.  I’m glad I kept up with going to the gym and doing the treadmill for an hour 3 times a week.  I have had more energy and have been more patient and conscious when around my kids.  I didn’t even yell or get mad when my daughter dropped a glass of hot chocolate on the kitchen floor and broke my favorite mug.  Now, that’s restraint!

Anyway, I hope this kind of inspires you to keep going on your own goals.  There will be some good days and bad days.  That’s normal right?  Please post a comment if you have a goal you would like to share and how you’ve accomplished it.