Family Finances

  • What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan

    https://blessingsmultiplied.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/09/4088699532_ae44f04b7dc.jpg

    It looks like it is going to be another busy week for us.  The kids still have another round of State testing, Jake will be busy at work, and I have a lot that needs to get done and caught up.  Going to try to make it a simple menu simple this week so we can stay on top of everything else that is going on with the family.  Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:

    Our Weekly Menu Plan

    • Monday (Beef or Pork Entree): Spaghetti & Meatballs, Garlic Bread
    • Tuesday (Kid’s Night to Cook):  Blueberry Pancakes, Bacon
    • Wednesday (Chicken or Vegetarian Entree): Mustard Glazed Chicken, Steamed Vegetables
    • Thursday (Pasta or Seafood Entree): Cube Pork Steak, Fresh Salad
    • Friday, Saturday, & Sunday:  Leftovers, Family Preference, and Hosting

    I have a general pattern I try to follow for my weekly Menu Plan (for example Monday we have a beef or seafood entree and so forth).  It is my goal, at least in the beginning, to have at least the main dish and one side planned.  I will put together the remaining side dishes (veggies / fruits) based on the food items that need to be used up first and compliment the main entree.

    Setting a weekly menu plan helps me utilize my time better, thus freeing up extra time to spend with my family.  On the days that I am working longer hours I can prep the meal in advance so it will be easier to pull together once I am home.  As I go through the menu planning process I will try to share some of our favorite family recipes.  If there is a specific recipe you would like please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate (some recipes are a toss together meal and I do not use any set measurements).

    As a family of four our life can get busy.  What’s for Dinner is our weekly menu planning series and one of the ways to help keep us organized, on schedule, and within budget.  Our family typically eats 6 to 7  dinner meals at home a week.  We do try to go out to eat at least once a month as a special treat.  Breakfasts are eaten at home before work and school, lunches are eaten at work, school, or home, so dinner is our main meal together as a family.  Dinner is our time to reconnect, share, and enjoy being together after a busy day.  Our weekly menu plan covers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only because the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) is our time to spend with family and friends.  The weekends tend to be more spontaneous and my husband (who is the better cook) likes pitching in therefore we keep the menu open for variety.  We use up the leftovers throughout the week for our lunches and on the nights that we are busy or can’t cook.

    Photo by Liz

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    We made it through last week.  Jake had some work travel.  We had people coming and doing to get the new HVAC unit installed.  My week was altered and adjusted as needed so I could be home whenever they needed to get access to the house to do their work.  Thankfully we were able to get the HVAC completely installed by Saturday and it appears to be working well.  It will be nice to have cool air once the heat hits.  This week is a little closer to normal, however, I have a lot of appointments due to last week being a little more flexible.  The girls will still be busy with homework and some more State testing, but I am hoping that it will not be as intense this week.  If all goes well I hope to get a lot accomplished this week.  Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Boxcar Children’s Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children Series #6) by Gertrude Chandler Warner to the kids – working on it, we got some done this past weekend
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the Kidsplayed a couple games with the kids Destination USA, Life, and more
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    9. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break – getting closer to having the schedule figured out
    10. Ride Bikes with the Kids – didn’t get to this one
    11. Work on special projects with the kids
    12. Mail Mother’s Day Cards
    13. Celebrate Mother’s Day with Family

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s) – my app is acting up, hoping to get the kinks worked out this week
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals – I had some great days, but was still a little off by the end of the week
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day it took more than one day with all the activity going on
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic) – the attic was a busy place with HVAC people coming and going so tried to stay out of their way this week
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from Atlanta trip)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Re-Stain the Deck – weather permitting) – didn’t re-stain deck, but got several other items done
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Pick up Dog and Goat Food)we also took Skipper to get her annual shots
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Replace our HVAC Unit – it died a few weeks ago the joys of owning an older home)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails – a couple more to get completed
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients – have 2 more projects to tackle this week
    5. Prep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months with kids out of schoolmaking some good progress, hoping to tackle a lot more this week

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car – working on it
    2. Payoff Medical Bills – working on it – paid a couple off 
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt) – working on it
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Boxcar Children’s Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children Series #6) by Gertrude Chandler Warner to the kids
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the Kids
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    9. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break
    10. Ride Bikes with the Kids
    11. Work on special projects with the kids
    12. Attend Cousins Baby Shower
    13. Kids glasses fixed
    14. Kids orthodontist appointment

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – Laundry Room)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Deck Cleaned & Prepped)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Mix Extra Vitamins in Goat Food)
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Pick Up Replacement Lightbulbs)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients
    5. Prep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months while the kids are out of school

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car
    2. Payoff Medical Bills
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt)
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week was busy, but good.  The girls survived their first week of State testing at school and we tried to do some fun activities every day to keep help make the week go more pleasantly with them.  They have another round this week though.  They played outside a little more to get fresh air and were a huge help in getting some yard work done.  They helped me clean up the pool, pick up a bunch of sticks from the trees in the yard, and even a bonfire (which they loved).  Thankful for my kids and their willingness to work hard so we can get things done as a family.

    Jake and I had a Date Night on Friday which was really nice to get out and how some quiet time together as a couple.   Jake got both of the vehicles oil changes complete, mowed the lawn (thanks to my brother letting us borrow his mower), and a whole lot of other tasks done around the house and yard this weekend.  We ended Saturday with a delicious meal over the bonfire.  Sunday we went to church, relaxed, and had a planning session for the upcoming week.  All in all it was a good week and it was the first weekend in weeks that we stayed home for the entire weekend which was really nice!  While it was a productive week for me I didn’t necessarily do what was on my “goal” list, I plan to do better about sticking to it this week.  Hoping to get a lot accomplished this week as there is a lot I want to do before the kids get out of school.    Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Samantha’s Pride (Thoroughbred Series #7) by Joanna Campbell to the kids
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the Kids – we didn’t play a board game this week, but we spent good quality time together
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    9. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break – we made some progress on it this weekend, hoping to wrap up some of the other big details within the next week
    10. Ride Bikes with the Kids – the kids rode bikes, but I didn’t get a chance to ride with them this week
    11. Mail out Mother’s Day Cards
    12. Celebrate Mother’s Day
    13. Go on Date Nights with the Kids

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s) – it was acting up a few times last week so I am about 2 days behind schedule
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – it was two days this week with everything going on
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic) – girls closets are done, but still need to do my and Jake’s clothes. 
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from Atlanta trip) – almost done, hopefully this week
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Re-Stain the Deck – weather permitting) – we scrapped doing this activity instead cleaned up the pool, mowed, picked up & burned sticks, changed oil in both vehicles
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Give Skipper a Bath) – she still needs her bath, but all the animals did get a good brushing from the kids which they loved with all their fur shedding now that it is getting a lot warmer
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Replace our HVAC Unit – it died a few weeks ago the joys of owning an older home) – working on it, should be done this week

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails – need to get a couple more completed
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention – got a little behind this week
    4. Work completed for clients – have one more to complete soon

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car – made another payment this week, slowly and surely we’re getting there
    2. Payoff Medical Bills – working on it
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt) – working on it
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Boxcar Children’s Blue Bay Mystery (Boxcar Children Series #6) by Gertrude Chandler Warner to the kids
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the Kids
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    9. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break
    10. Ride Bikes with the Kids
    11. Work on special projects with the kids

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from Atlanta trip)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Re-Stain the Deck – weather permitting)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Pick up Dog and Goat Food)
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Replace our HVAC Unit – it died a few weeks ago the joys of owning an older home)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients
    5. Prep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months with kids out of school

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car
    2. Payoff Medical Bills
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt)
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    We flew through last week with all the school, work, and other activities going on.  The girls finished and turned in their Science Fair journals and display boards on Friday!  WooHoo!  It was so nice to get them done.  They hand wrote over 100 pages in their journals and spent countless hours on the project.  They don’t actually present the project until the middle of May, but the majority of the work is complete and turned in for the teacher to grade.  This past weekend we were able to get away for a little bit to Georgia and have some fun!  We went to the Georgia Renaissance Festival which was very entertaining; I will share more about that in a later post.   This week the girls have a bunch of their year end State tests so hoping there is not a lot of homework so we can do some stuff around the house, yard, and have some extra fun in the evenings too.  Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Samantha’s Pride (Thoroughbred Series #7) by Joanna Campbell to the kids – we actually got to get a good start on this book, hoping to wrap it up this week
    2. Plan one special activity with the familywe had fun in Georgia over the weekend and went to the Georgia Renaissance Festival
    3. Play a Game with the Kidswe played Destination USA and a couple other ones together
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure
    9. Finish and turn in the kids Science Fair Projects
    10. Prep for upcoming Summer Break

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s) – it was acting up last week, hoping to get caught up soon
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals – I blew it away on a couple of days and missed my target on a day or two, so probably if I average the week I hit close to my goal
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily – it doesn’t get written down every day, need to do better

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one daytook 2 days with the altered schedule this past week
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic) – it was cool and one of my daughters wanted to wear long sleeves last week so hoping to get it put up this week
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from Atlanta trip) – almost done!
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Clean Off the Deck)the kids actually helped get this done
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Get Another Water Bucket set Out for the Goats)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails – have a couple more to do
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car – working on it
    2. Payoff Medical Bills – working on it (finished another one, now if we can just not go to the Dr again for a few months, ha)
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, and other debt) – working on it
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Samantha’s Pride (Thoroughbred Series #7) by Joanna Campbell to the kids
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the Kids
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
    9. Prep & Figure out Schedule for upcoming Summer Break
    10. Ride Bikes with the Kids

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from Atlanta trip)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Re-Stain the Deck – weather permitting)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Give Skipper a Bath)
    7. Repairs – (Focus – Replace our HVAC Unit – it died a few weeks ago the joys of owning an older home)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car
    2. Payoff Medical Bills
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, and other debt)
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    This past week went by in a whirlwind.  Jake was traveling for work, the girls have been working diligently every day on their Science Fair Project which is due pretty soon, and there were a lot of extra activities and appointments going on.  We made it through the week in one piece, but hoping it slows down soon.  I was not aware of how time consuming the Science Fair projects would be.  Not sure if this week is much quieter, but I am hoping to make some more progress in the right direction. Due to the many activities going on this week several items are going to be the same again because I was unable to get to them.  Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Samantha’s Pride (Thoroughbred Series #7) by Joanna Campbell to the kids – we haven’t had as much time to read for fun with all the extra work on the Science Fair Projects, hoping to get to this more soon
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the KidsPlayed the  Destination USA Board Game with them
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure – are brainstorming and trying to work out the details (and scheduling)
    9. Finish the kids Science Fair Projects – almost done!!!!!!!
    10. Prep for upcoming Summer Break – starting to fill in the schedule

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s) – I am about 3 days behind, need to catch up this week
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals – I did it!!!!
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily – this one didn’t get updated daily with everything going on

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic) – other items took priority and with the cold rainy days one of my daughters wore her jeans and long shirts all week!
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from FL, STEM, and Atlanta trips) – got all the Florida and STEM ones completed, just need to tackle the Atlanta trip
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Clean Off the Deck) – it rained the entire week here in SC
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Get Another Water Bucket set Out for the Goats) – have one that will be repositioning soon

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails – need to catch up
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention – I did the high priority or hot items
    4. Work completed for clients –  have a few projects to complete soon

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car – working on it
    2. Payoff Medical Bills- working on it (paid off a couple this week, YAY!)
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, and other debt)- working on it
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Samantha’s Pride (Thoroughbred Series #7) by Joanna Campbell to the kids
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the Kids
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure
    9. Finish and turn in the kids Science Fair Projects
    10. Prep for upcoming Summer Break

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from Atlanta trip)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Clean Off the Deck)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Get Another Water Bucket set Out for the Goats)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car
    2. Payoff Medical Bills
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, and other debt)
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.

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  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week was a busy one as we unpacked from our Spring Break Atlanta trip and got back into school and work full time again.  We had a lot of activities going on this week which made it fly by quickly.  Thankful for the time with my family.  Hoping that it is a wonderful week and that we will be able to get a lot accomplished.   Here are my goals for this week:

    Last week’s goals

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Samantha’s Pride (Thoroughbred Series #7) by Joanna Campbell to the kids – busy week and we just got started
    2. Plan one special activity with the familywe did a kids date night and trip to the zoo
    3. Play a Game with the Kids
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure
    9. Work on the kids Science Fair Projectswe made some good progress
    10. Prep for upcoming Summer Break

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
    3. Keep up with my FitBit GoalsI DID it this week (over 10,000 steps a day, 5 miles, 10 sets of stairs, etc)!  Thankful to be excited to be moving more again since my herniated disc!
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily – I didn’t do as well staying on top of it this week

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – Unpack Suitcase and Items Away from Atlanta Trip this weekend)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from FL, STEM, and Atlanta trips) – almost done
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Clean Out Van from Road Trips)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Brush Goats & Dog – starting to shed with warmer weather)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car – working on it
    2. Payoff Medical Bills – working on it
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, and other debt) – working on it
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    My goals for the upcoming week

    Family Goals

    1. Finish reading Samantha’s Pride (Thoroughbred Series #7) by Joanna Campbell to the kids
    2. Plan one special activity with the family
    3. Play a Game with the Kids
    4. Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
    5. Spend time Monday –Friday helping the kids with Homework
    6. Attend After School Activities
    7. Lunch Boxes & Book Bags packed the night before
    8. Prep for upcoming Family Adventure
    9. Finish the kids Science Fair Projects
    10. Prep for upcoming Summer Break

    Personal Goals

    1. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
    2. Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
    3. Keep up with my FitBit Goals
    4. Go to my  Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
    5. Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily

    Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
    3. Clean House (Focus – All Winter Clothes Pulled out of Closets & Dressers and Put into the Attic)
    4. Organize Chaos (Focus – All pictures downloaded & organized from FL, STEM, and Atlanta trips)
    5. Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Clean Off the Deck)
    6. Pet Care (Focus – Get Another Water Bucket set Out for the Goats)

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
    3. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    4. Work completed for clients

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

    Financial Goals

    1. Payoff the Car
    2. Payoff Medical Bills
    3. Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, and other debt)
    4. Pay Bills & File Paperwork
    5. Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results.

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    The price to download these books is currently $0.00 (although the price may change at any time, please confirm prior to downloading).  The ebooks are specifically for Kindles, however, you can click here and download the free application that allows you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.

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