Wow, It's February Already!

Dear Family,

Update to goals I am working on just in case you are interested:

1. Jessie and I will be going to the Temple in February so I have working on the new Family History website on Nana's side of the family and should have a few names to take to the Temple for Jessie to do some baptisms for and I should be able to do the initiatory work for Grampa Carl Johnson's sisters when I go.  So I am making some progress.

2.  Today I stripped the wallpaper off the walls in the upstairs main bathroom - the ugly blue and orange 70's stuff.  It was so easy.  It literally peeled off the wall w/o using the wallpaper steamer or any other tools (just a little scraper).  This was a task I had been procrastinating for YEARS!  I should have learned from Flylady to just set my timer for 15 minutes and start.  If I had done this a long time ago this task that I had been dreading would have been done long, long ago.  Now Dad and I can wallpaper and do the ceiling and the floor.  There is a lesson here about facing difficult and onerous tasks.  I think you can figure it out for yourself.

3. I am doing bad at the treadmill.  I keep thinking I am going to get on it when I get home from work in the afternoon and then I don't.  I need encouragement.  I just need to set the timer for 10 minutes and DO IT!

4.  Dad and I have realigned some of our goals/plans, etc now that Eric is getting married and we will need to spend money on things that we didn't plan or know about earlier.  We will keep you posted on this.  Our goal now is to be very careful financially so we can have the cash we need to go to CA and spend what we need there and then also make the Open House a nice event for both families to remember.  I will take all suggestions!

I hope we all keep reading our scriptures, praying, fasting and moving forward spiritually. Yesterday in Seminary we studied 2 Samuel 11-12 the story of King David where he looked at Bathsheba, then committed adultery, then murdered her husband Uriah and the lesson related President Hinckley's story about the train switchpoints when a lineman moved a switchpoint and the train that was supposed to go to Newark NJ ended up in Louisiana.  A 3" tiny switchpoint made all the difference later down the track.  The point the lesson was teaching was that David had many opportunities or switchpoints to move his life to a different direction and that each decisions that we make over time can take us in completely different directions. Even the very small decisions of daily scripture study, prayer, service, etc., will make us a completely different person than we would be if we chose to not do these things or to do them sporadically or haphazardly, so I challenge all of us to be more diligent in our spiritual journey!

Love you all very much!

Mom

El Matrimonio

It may come as no surprise to ya'll that I'm engaged to married to a miss Zacharias (Karen, as you all know her). That, of course, slightly shifts my goals to "our goals" though I still have my own. Anyway, I just thought I would formerly announce this foregoing formerly for you all in this forum, for real? Well be happy, we will be in contact for preparations and plans. I know its a change for our family but I'm confident it will bring extreme joy to us all!
Love, Eric

Pressing Forward

Well Hello family! It's seems to have been awhile since anyone has written so I'd like to spread some encouraging words. First congrats to all on their goals and the progress they have made, I hope everyone is still chugging along and hasn't given up yet. I am actually more motivated than ever in regards to my goals. This last week I went to the gym three times! Yay! And I've made a schedule for myself so I always know when I'm going and then I can throw in extra times as is convenient. The results have been good too. I definitely have more energy and I've lost 3-4 pounds (I can't tell exactly, my scale is kind of messed up) last week!

Another great thing that has been helping me is this institute class I've been taking. It's called The Gospel and the Productive Life. It's great. We talk about setting specific goals in different areas of our life and how to go about accomplishing them through gospel principles. Last week we started talking about financial goals. The class also goes into relationships, careers, education, physical, and spiritual. I think it's the perfect class for me right now and it's really motivating me to make some changes and work towards my goals.

Anyway, that's all for now. Just so you know, you guys are all WAY cooler than me so I know you will be able to do amazing things if you work towards them (you already do!) so let me know what you're up to...

Hey family. I just want to start out by congratulating all of you for doig well on your goals, specifcally Britta and Mother. As for my own, lately I've been getting a lot of comments about my ever increasingly tight pant waists. I've been told that i eat a lot... a lot a lot. Well ok, so this week i ran twice but by even bigger goal is to not eat that second plate of lasagna, not eat that second tangerine ice cream float, etc etc. I've never had to restrain myself before so its a little bit of a foreign concept. I dont entirely blame myself though because i do remember having to ask permission for any food item back as a young'n in pheonix, so much so that it drove me to raid the sugar and flour supplies in the pantry. I think mom once found me with hands and face encrusted with sugar.

As for other goals so far i'm keeping up with my homework after a week of classes. Also my companion and I have gotten a head start on January Home Teaching. I've been reading every day though by goal to study with Preach My Gospel has not yet been realized. I am also working on getting out of just a little debt. I also am applying for internships this summer. I just found out some information and got some letters of recommendation so I'm progressing academically somewhat. Well thats all for me, good job and good luck to everybody, have a great week!

Good Ideas from the January Ensign

Dear Family,

Have you checked out the January Ensign yet?  There are three articles in there I would like to draw your attention to.  If you had a financial goal there is an excellent article about  getting out of debt and living within your means.  I hope you will all read it.  It was really helpful to me.  I'm always thinking I need something new for my wardrobe (I don't), the house (I don't) or a new book (I have dozens I haven't read and there are a lot at the Library I can check out for free) and reading this article helped to put things back into perspective.

The 2nd article I liked was about turning off the TV.  A family was building a new house and the TV cables got buried in the attic under insulation for several months and they were forced to go without TV.  The mother wrote about what they did and accomplished without the TV on.  It made me think about what each of us could do (if we just watched a little less each day) toward the goals we have set.  Maybe if TV isn't our vice perhaps the internet, or something else.

The 3rd article was about getting healthy.  The woman who wrote it lost over 100 pounds, but she wasn't really on a diet or exercise "program," she was trying to change her lifestyle from being unhealthy to healthy and she relates it to the gospel, scriptures, etc.  It was an excellent article and caused me to think about my earthly temple and taking better care of it.

I thought it was interesting that a lot of the things we talked about setting goals about (at least ones I was concerned about) were addressed in the January Ensign.

Slow Start

First I have to say, I got off to a slow start.  Every time I tried to post, look at, or do anything, I ran into trouble.  Turns out I made a typo (figures) when I set up the username and password on my computer.  One little letter wrong, and so much trouble. Oh well.

I am starting small also.  I am reducing my pop intake to once a week, to start.  My goal is to cut out pop entirely.  Since the New Years I have had only two cans of pop. 

My entries will be short because I have so many typos, and it takes me forever to type anything.  Maybe I should make a goal to improve my typing.  Doing these blogs may help or kill me.

Dad 

Small steps and a few small bites

Ok, so I don't know how I'm really going to do with this whole blogging thing but I'm trying. So one of my goals I made was to start working out more. I'm starting small because this is something I struggle with a lot. The goal for the time being is to go to the gym (yes I joined a gym back in November and have only gone a couple times so far) twice a week. I know it's not a lot but it will get me in the habit and then I can build from there. Well, last night I actually went! I really was planning on going before but the whole chunk-of-wood-stuck-in-my-foot thing happened and then I got really sick. I'm still a little sick so I went easy last night and just rode the bike and read my book for half an hour. It kinda killed my sore throat but oh well....it's a start.
Also, I'm working on that eating healthier thing. I bought some apples (which typically I don't like, but I've kind of been in the mood for) and I've been eating them for lunch. I don't usually eat a lot of fresh fruit so that's an improvement for me. And then I'm bringing lunch meat and bread to make sandwiches which kinda helps on two of my goals. I'm eating healthier fresh food and I'm saving money by not eating out. Look at me go! Ok, I know non of this is really that big but our blog looked lonely for a post and I feel like I'm doing something when I write it down...Hee hee! Go family!

Good, Better & Best

Dear Family,

Here is a thought from Elder Oaks that I hope will motivate you to think about one of your goals from FHE last week.  If we are too busy to work on a personal goal of improvement in one area of our life, perhaps this will help each of us to reflect on our priorities and time.

Love,

Mom

Elder Oaks:

We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it.  The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Somethings are better than good and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives.

As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good.  Other choices are better, and still others are best.  Even though a particular choice is more costly, its far greater value may make it the best choice of all.

Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games surfing the Internet, or reading books or magazines.  Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information.   But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it.  Some things are better and others are best.  When the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, "Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom" (D&C 88:118)

Happy New Year from Mom!

Hi Family,

Happy New Year!  I haven't had time to think of something really profound to tell you all yet, but I will!  Thanks Reesy, for creating this.  You are awesome. I hope you all have your goal papers that we wrote up on New Year's Eve.  Start thinking about what you can do tomorrow.  I will and let you know.  My plan is to at least get on the treadmill for 10 minutes (it's not much, but it's better than 0 minutes) and eat some fruit and vegetables.

Love you all,

Mom

Hey family! Welcome to our very own blog!