Organization
Recipes: Cooking Ground Beef Using a Crockpot
Crockpot full of fresh ground beef
My favorite way to save time with cooking is to do some of the time consuming and messier tasks all at one time. One of the ways you can do this is by cooking up your ground beef in advance and freezing it in measured out portions. When you need cooked beef for a recipe you pull it out, thaw it a little bit, and you are ready for the next step. I started doing this several years ago and just this one activity saves our entire family a lot of time throughout the month.
Once we are down to our last bag or two of cooked ground beef in the freezer it’s time to do another big batch a crockpot ground beef. I can fit several pounds of ground beef into our crockpot at one time. One crockpot of cooked ground beef will usually last our family at least a month or more (it has lasted up to 3 months for us on more than 1 occasion). Typically we have about one ground beef based meal per week whether on the week days or weekend. My husband was a little skeptical about this at first, but after a few months he has come to enjoy being able to pull out a bag of cooked ground beef and proceed forward to the next step of cooking the meal.
This works really well if you want to cook up a larger batch of ground beef at one time. It would not be as useful if you are wanting to cook 1 pound of ground beef for a meal later that day (doable, yes, just not as efficient). I always try to keep an eye out for ground beef deals whenever I am at the grocery store. If I find a good deal I stick it in the deep freezer and when it is time to cook up the next big batch of ground beef I always have plenty to fill up the crockpot. This helps you save money in the long run too because you don’t have to pay full price for ground beef (which has gone way up in the last couple of years). It is a good idea to be home while the ground beef is in the crockpot because it typically only takes 3 to 5 hours and you want to break up the ground beef throughout the cooking process.
By doing this you make the mess of cooking ground beef once a month (or every couple months) and your done. No more weekly cooking of your ground beef will also save you more time and clean up mess than you realize! Seriously!!! This especially works well if you have an upcoming busy season that you want to prepare for or having a baby soon or summer break or just trying to utilize your time more efficiently.
Cooking Ground Beef Using a Crockpot Recipe:
- Several Pounds of Ground Beef (I usually do between 5 to 10 pounds at a time). You can use traditional beef, grass fed beef, or whatever combination you want. You can also use whatever percentage of fat you want as well. Although, the fattier the meat the less actual meat you will have at the end because the fat will be drained off. We like to buy 93% lean or higher, but at times we do pick up a lower one if it is at a great price (we always stick to 85% or higher).
1. Fill your crockpot up to the top with ground beef (every crockpot holds a different amount, but try to fit in as much as possible). I have put in frozen ground beef (pulled directly from the freezer) as well as thawed ground beef (either way will work fine), but you will be able to fit more of the thawed ground beef into your crockpot therefore creating more meals out of your finished product.
2. Put your crockpot on the low heat setting and cook for 3 to 5 hours. The time will vary depending on how much meat you put into your crockpot and whether or not it was thawed or frozen. Place the lid on the crockpot and let it cook for an hour.
3. After the first hour of cooking add your spices (whatever you typically use to season your ground beef). We like to keep it simple by adding minced onions and Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning. Other good seasonings that compliment the ground beef are salt, pepper, garlic seasoning, etc… After adding the seasonings take a straight edged spatula or wooden spoon and break up the meat so it starts forming the ground beef crumbles. Place the lid back on the crockpot and allow it to cook for another hour.
4. After the 2nd hour remove the lid and break up the meat again. This will help it form the nice uniform ground beef crumbles that work well in recipes. If you do not stir it regularly than the ground beef will form larger clumps of meat which do not work as well in many of the recipes that call for ground beef. You can still break up the larger clumps at the end, but it will take longer and they will not be as evenly seasoned or as uniform.
5. Repeat step #4 every additional hour until your ground beef is cooked thoroughly. You should have a nice brown color and your meat crumbled into fairly even size pieces.
6. Once the hamburger is cooked turn off the crockpot. Place a small holed strainer on top of a large metal bowl and pour your cooked ground beef into the strainer. The strainer will keep your cooked meat in it while the oils will drain into the large bowl underneath. Allow the hamburger to drain for 10 minutes. Blot with a paper towel to get rid of any access fat.
7. Allow the meat to cool completely. Once it is cool divide the meat up into individual bags or containers by measuring out 2 cups of meat per container (this is approximately 1 pound of ground beef per bag or container). If you get to the end and you don’t have enough for an additional 2 cups divide the remaining meat equally between the individual containers already fill. Typically, I have between 2 to 2 1/2 cups of cooked meat per bag or container. Every time you have a recipe that calls for 1 pound of hamburger all you have to do is pull out 1 of these bags or containers and use it. Each one of these is used in a family meal. If you have 6 bags or containers this should get you through your next 6 meals that use cooked ground hamburger. Say you do 1 meal like this a week this should last you 6 weeks before you have to cook ground hamburger again!
This allows you to pull the meat out prior to dinner, make your meal, and eliminates a lot of time and mess. Which means you can spend more time with your family or doing something you enjoy!
Cooke ground beef is now ready to be drained and divided up into individual bags for later consumption.
Organized Chaos: Kid’s Bookshelves
Kids bookshelf
Our family loves books! It has always been something we have done together. When the girls were little we would read to them everyday. Now we read more chapter books, library books, and special books together as a family. We do a rotation on who gets to pick out the next chapter book we will read as a family. Sometimes if Jake is traveling he may miss a chapter or two otherwise we usually do this activity together.
When the girls were little we barely had any kids books. We started collecting them, the kids got some as gifts, and they have also bought some with their spending money. Over the years these books have accumulated. For one of their gifts a couple years ago Jake made the girls a bookshelf for their room. They LOVE it! For the most part they do keep it pretty neat, but every once in awhile it needs a little cleaning and organizing.
As you can see from the picture above they have books piled on top of the books on the shelf, books leaning all directions, random items that are not books on the bookshelf, and various books out of place. Since they keep it in decent order it doesn’t take long to freshen up the book shelf, put books away, dust, and we had it looking better in no time.
We have their books arranged in specific order. On the top are the kids classics and chapter book series. The 2nd shelf down we have more chapter books or series. On the 3rd shelf from the top we have the Golden Classics and soft cover books. The 4th shelf from the top contains all the kids reference and educational books. On the 5th shelf from the top we have hard cover books. The very bottom shelf contains more hard cover books, including some series.
Bookshelf is all dusted and organized!
The next big bookshelf project I need to do is to go through all the younger kids books. Our kids have outgrown a lot of the smaller books so I need to decide which ones to keep, donate, sell, etc…. I have slowly been starting to do this by giving some of the younger kid books to kids who I know enjoy those types of books. I love looking into the kids rooms and seeing them reading books either on their own or together. It makes my heart happy. The learning to read fluently has been a journey for our family. Part of my hesitation in going through and getting rid of some of their smaller books means I have to admit my little babies are growing up and to a Momma’s heart it kind of makes me sad. Not sure if I will ever be truly ready, but I will eventually go through the books and eliminate some more kids ones so that it will make more room for their more advanced reading books, just not today…
Organized Chaos: 3 Simple Steps When Cleaning Out the Kids Toy Cabinet
White Toy Cabinet
The white toy cabinet may look clean on the outside…however, that is not the case when you open it up and look inside of it. It has items placed randomly all around and is in a bit of a disarray. Today we are going to talk about organizing the toy cabinets. Our kids love playing, but for some reason the items they play with do not always find the correct homes when it is time for them to be put away. Despite the fact that most toys have a specific location where they call home. Whether it is that they are in a hurry, don’t want to take the time, or are not sure where to put it, who knows. Every once in awhile the white toy cabinet, like everything else in the house, needs a good cleaning.
Sometimes when you are cleaning out the kids stuff you find little treasures that the kids have kept for a variety of bizarre reasons, a candy wrapper from a friend, a 1 inch scrap of paper they are saving to do a craft, a piece of ribbon, or some other item that they stuffed in the cabinet for later use. There are times when the cabinet is so full of items and disorganized that it cannot even completely shut. I often wonder why these instances don’t trigger some thought process that says “Hey time to clean me out, please”! Maybe it does, but they don’t want to do it at that particular moment in time! Thankfully, as the kids are getting older I am starting notice more occasions were they will voluntarily notice a mess and clean it up by themselves. These precious moments makes my heart happy!
It’s a mess, not sure where some of that stuff came from in the toy cabinet
Here are 3 Simple Steps I use when cleaning out the kids toy cabinet:
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If it is broken – throw it away
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If they no longer play with it – give it away
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If it is out of place – put it away
Much better! Now they can actually find the toys and items they are looking for in the toy cabinet!
After going through the cabinet and applying the three simple principles as well as wiping down the inside and outside of the cabinet it is pretty much done. Sometimes there are a handful of items I am not sure about or want the kids to make the choice about what they want to do with them, but otherwise it is done.
While these steps sound really easy there have been times especially when the kids were younger and watching me clean out the toy cabinet I hesitated on some items. They may not have played with it this month, but maybe they will again next month. In those cases I usually held onto the toy for a little bit longer and if they hadn’t played with it by the time I cleaned the toy cabinet out again it was time for it to find another home.
I am a sentimental person so I like to keep special items. The problem is no one has a house large enough to keep everything so while I may hang onto things longer than some people eventually I have to admit when it’s time to let it go.
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Organized Chaos: Kid’s Closets
What a mess!
We live in a home with imperfect people. Life has a way of getting messy. Over time the busy messiness of life over spills into other areas such as our closets. It happens to all of us, including our kids.
On this particular day when I opened the closet I noticed several things out of place – clothes out of their specific baskets, shoes not lined up, headbands askew, and the hair accessories organizer not even hung up, hang up clothes in the wrong spots, crafts all out of sorts, and more disorganization.
Thankfully with the system we have in place it usually doesn’t take too long to get everything back in shape and looking good again. The kids are not always “excited” about cleaning out their closets, but they do enjoy it once it is done. It does look much better to Momma too!
Here are some closet organizational systems we already have in place that make the closet clean up easier:
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Organized Chaos: Jewelry Organizer
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Organized Chaos: Hair Accessory Organizer
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Organized Chaos: Kids Shoes
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Organized Chaos: Closet Clothes Baskets
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Organized Chaos: Kids Crafts & Activities
Once all the items listed above are checked, organized, and put back into their proper places there is only one thing left to do. Make sure all the hanging clothes are properly on the hangers and put them in their correct places. For our family we switch out cold and hot weather clothes depending on the season. In South Carolina we typically have a longer warm season then some other places so we are a little heavier on the short sleeve shirts and tank tops than on the heavier winter long sleeves and sweaters.
I used a picture from the colder season (the long sleeves show the different sections better than pictures with tank tops). As you can see her long sleeves / vests are on the left side of her closet with her short sleeve shirts in the middle and her dresses on the right side. In the summer her tank tops would be on the left where her long sleeve shirts / vests are located in this picture. We do pull out the kids winter dresses and replace them with summer dresses as well.
Looks so much better with everything put away and organized nicely!
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Organized Chaos: Kids Crafts & Activities
Kids crafts
Our kids love doing a variety of crafts and fun activities. Anything from artwork to bead work to pottery and so much more! A lot of times for their birthdays or Christmas they will get some neat crafts and activities gifts to do.
We wanted to find a convenient place to store them until they had time to do the craft. Originally, we had all the craft items stored together in one general location, but not in their room(s). As the girls got older we had to start putting names on the boxes or items so each one knew which ones were theirs when they went looking for a craft to do. Since they are twins it is important as parents to make sure that each child has some items that are specifically for them. We felt like this was something easy to do regarding their crafts and it has worked out well for our family.
Once the kids moved into their own rooms we decided to put their individual crafts on one of their higher shelves in their closets. Each kid has their own individual craft or activity shelf so they can pick out their specific item whenever they want to do a craft. Some of the crafts on their shelves are the same while some are completely different. They can easily get a chair or step stool when they want to pick out a craft to do, but with the crafts being on a higher shelf it isn’t as accessible so when we have younger kids visiting the crafts stay in place and don’t get all spread out.
Crafts lined up, visible, and ready to be used.
Organized Chaos: Closet Clothes Baskets
Baskets of clothes in the closet
On the bottom shelf in the kids closets we have 3 baskets of clothes. Each of these baskets contain specific items. The clothes are easy to access for the kids. The baskets make good use of the space between the the hanging clothes and the bottom rack.
The 3 Baskets contain:
- Basket of Blue Jeans and Pants
- Basket of Shorts and Skirts
- Basket of Outside Play Clothes
In the Spring and Summer the short and skirt basket will be in the center with the jeans / pants as well as the outside play clothes are on the sides. During the Fall and Winter the jeans and pants are in the middle with the short / skirt as well as the outside play clothes are on the sides. All the girls have to do is grab a shirt from the hanger above, a bottom (jeans, pants, shorts, or skirt) from one of the baskets and they have the majority of their outfits picked out. When they are going to play outside they can pick a shirt and bottom out of their outside play clothes.
They usually do pretty well with keeping the correct items in the right baskets. Although, sometimes when they are in a hurry or if they are digging for a specific pair of jeans they don’t always keep all their items folded nicely. For the most part they keep the baskets looking good. If the baskets do get messed up we can just pull out one or all three baskets and fold or organize them again.
We have been using this system for a few years now and it works well for our kids. It helps makes those busy mornings go more smoothly. Even though they are suppose to lay out their clothes the night before sometimes they forget or decide to switch into something else at the last minute.
Basket on the left is full of shorts & skirts. The middle basket is full of jeans and pants.
The middle basket is jeans / pants and on the left side the basket is full of outside play clothes.
Intentional Living: Weekly Goals
Last week Jake’s sister family spent the week with us. The week went by quickly and we packed in a lot of activities during their stay. It was fun spending some extra time and catching up with them as well as the rest of the family in the area the last few days. On Friday the girls went to church camp for the weekend. The house was really quiet after everyone left! We celebrated Father’s Day last weekend since the girls were away at camp for a good part of Father’s Day. Jake was super sweet and helped get our large pile of laundry started while the girls were away. He also made the most amazing apricot and salmon recipe that I will be sharing in a few days. Here are my goals for this week:
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
Finish reading Romona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary book to the kidsPlan one special activity with the family– went to Otters Creek Water Park with Mirm’s familyPlay a Game with the Family– played several this weekPrepare for Upcoming Spring Events– Spring is done and now we are enjoying summerSpend time working on Summer WorkbooksAttend Evening Activities & EventsSpend Extra Time with Extended FamilyLunch Bags Packed for Work & Errand / Outside ActivitiesPrep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)- Prep & Figure out Schedule for Summer Break – wrapping up some later details
Ride Bikes with the KidsWork on special projects with the kidsHang out at a park with KidsGo to the Library- Find a new local place to visit or new activity to do with the Kids – we went to places we already visited before
Attend an extra-curricular activity or eventGet kids packed and sent off to Church CampCelebrate Father’s Day
Personal Goals
Drink 8 glasses of water each day- Continue my YouVersion plan(s) – running a little behind
Keep up with my FitBit GoalsGo to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this weekUpdate Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one dayWeekly Dinner Menu planned out for the weekClean House (Focus – Vacuum & Dust)Organize Chaos (Focus – Refrigerator)- Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Treehouse Fort) – working on it
Pet Care (Focus – Treat Yard for Mosquitoes / Flies)- Repairs – (Focus – Girls Necklace Hangers) – hoping to get it done soon
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog postsRespond to Inquiry – Business Relation EmailsKeep up with the day to day items that need my attention- Work completed for clients – another project to be done soon
Research and pursue career goalsPrep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months while the kids are out of school
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Medical Bills – paid more on a couple this week
- Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt) – working on it
Pay Bills & File Paperwork- Go grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget – went over budget with the grocery budget
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Finish reading Lightening’s Last Hope by Joanna Campbell book to the kids
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Play a Game with the Family
- Spend time working on Summer Workbooks
- Attend Evening Activities & Events
- Lunch Bags Packed for Work & Errand / Outside Activities
- Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
- Prep & Figure out Schedule for Summer Break
- Ride Bikes with the Kids
- Work on special projects with the kids
- Hang out at a park with Kids
- Go to the Library
- Find a new local place to visit or new activity to do with the Kids
- Attend an extra-curricular activity or event
- Pick up Summer Clothes for the girls (Swim suit, shorts, sandals, pjs)
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Keep up with my FitBit Goals
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
- Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Clean House (Focus – Post Items to Sale and Take Items to Donate)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Girls Scrapbooks)
- Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Seed Goat Pen)
- Pet Care (Focus – New Collar for Snowball, Hay, & Mineral Bucket)
- Repairs – (Focus – Girls Necklace Hangers)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
- Research and Plan Out Business Goals
- Prep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months while the kids are out of school
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Medical Bills
- Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- 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.
Organized Chaos: Kids Shoes
Organized Kids Shoes
We live in an older house. Most days it’s fine, but there are a few things (like any house) that we would love to change. The closets in this house are pretty small. When the girls shared a room their closet was full even though they were babies. All the closets had in them when we moved in was a small wooden shelf with one metal bar underneath to hang clothes on. We have slowly been converting the closets to a rack system* which allows us to use the space we have more efficiently.
The kids are now in their own rooms and we have updated both of their closets with the rack system. We decided to leave a space underneath the bottom rack for their shoes. They have enough space to stack both shoes from each set under their bottom rack and line them up.
The shoes that are stored in their closets are slippers, sandals, crocs, dress shoes, and ones they were for special occasions. The girls dirtier shoes like their school shoes, outside boots, and other outside shoes or sandals stay in a basket by the back door or the garage. It makes me happy when I look into their closets and see them neat with their shoes lined up.
Shoes lined up in the kids closet!
*If you are looking at converting your closets to a rack system you can locate them at Lowe’s, Home Depot, or another store.
What’s for Dinner: Our Weekly Menu Plan
Thankful for the extra time this week with the kids and extended family. Jake’s sister and her family will be with us this week. We also get a chance to catch up with his cousins in this the area as everyone gets together. The week will be full of fun with everyone around. Hoping that we have great memories with all the family members. I am keeping the menu simple and most of the normal days are switched around as it will be a busy and different week for us. They will be arriving on Monday. Here is our menu plan for the upcoming week:
Our Weekly Menu Plan
- Monday (Beef or Pork Entree): Special Event
- Tuesday (Kid’s Night to Cook): Crockpot Roast, Steamed Vegetables
- Wednesday (Chicken or Vegetarian Entree): Honey Baked Ham, Mashed Potatoes
- Thursday (Pasta or Seafood Entree): Walking Tacos, 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
Last week was super fun with the girls home now on summer break. We packed in a lot of neat activities and got some projects done this week too. The girls have been consistent on working on their summer workbooks and reading. Thankful for extra time with the kids and a chance to do some exciting events together. Jake has been busy with work and working on a big project for the girls in his free time at home. He is such a great Daddy to his girls and comes up with neat activities for them from robotics to building items together and more! This week Jake’s sister and her family are visiting us in South Carolina so the week will be a little different as we focus on spending time with them. Here are my goals for this week:
Last week’s goals
Family Goals
Finish reading School’s Out by Ken Brynildsen book to the kids(it’s an older book & couldn’t find it on Amazon) –
finished it (the girls enjoyed the adventures in the book) and started on the next one that Karlie picked out- Plan one special activity with the family
Play a Game with the Family– taught the girls Hand & Foot, played Golf, and morePrepare for Upcoming Spring EventsSpend time working on Summer WorkbooksAttend Evening Activities & EventsLunch Bags Packed for Work & Errand / Outside Activities– packed Jake’s work lunch and we had 2 days with picnic lunches when we were out and aboutPrep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)Prep & Figure out Schedule for Summer BreakRide Bikes with the KidsWork on special projects with the kidsHang out at a park with KidsGo to the LibraryFind a new local place to visit or new activity to do with the Kids– went to Frankie’s Fun Park and went to the Candy Land Game Activity at the libraryAttend an extra-curricular activity or event– went to the Free Movies with the KidsDate Night with the Kids– I went with Karlie and Jake went with Brina
Personal Goals
Drink 8 glasses of water each day- Continue my YouVersion plan(s) – need to catch up
Keep up with my FitBit GoalsGo to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this weekUpdate Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day– the girls are getting fasterWeekly Dinner Menu planned out for the weekClean House (Focus – 3 Bathrooms)Organize Chaos (Focus – Kids Rooms)- Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Mow)
- Pet Care (Focus – Mix Extra Vitamins in Goat Food)
- Repairs – (Focus – Girls Necklace Hangers)
Business Goals
Work on ideas for upcoming blog postsRespond to Inquiry – Business Relation EmailsKeep up with the day to day items that need my attentionWork completed for clientsPrep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months while the kids are out of school
Ministry Goals
Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car – working on it
- Payoff Medical Bills – working on it
- Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt) – working on it
Pay Bills & File PaperworkGo grocery shopping one time to one store this week and stay within budget
My goals for the upcoming week
Family Goals
- Finish reading Romona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary book to the kids
- Plan one special activity with the family
- Play a Game with the Family
- Prepare for Upcoming Spring Events
- Spend time working on Summer Workbooks
- Attend Evening Activities & Events
- Spend Extra Time with Extended Family
- Lunch Bags Packed for Work & Errand / Outside Activities
- Prep for upcoming Family Adventure(s)
- Prep & Figure out Schedule for Summer Break
- Ride Bikes with the Kids
- Work on special projects with the kids
- Hang out at a park with Kids
- Go to the Library
- Find a new local place to visit or new activity to do with the Kids
- Attend an extra-curricular activity or event
- Get kids packed and sent off to Church Camp
- Celebrate Father’s Day
Personal Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- Continue my YouVersion plan(s)
- Keep up with my FitBit Goals
- Go to my Doctor Appointments Scheduled this week
- Update Counting My Blessings and Other journal entries daily
Home (Yard & Pets) Management Goals
- All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
- Weekly Dinner Menu planned out for the week
- Clean House (Focus – Vacuum & Dust)
- Organize Chaos (Focus – Refrigerator)
- Yard / Garage Cleanup (Focus – Treehouse Fort)
- Pet Care (Focus – Treat Yard for Mosquitoes / Flies)
- Repairs – (Focus – Girls Necklace Hangers)
Business Goals
- Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
- Respond to Inquiry – Business Relation Emails
- Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
- Work completed for clients
- Research and pursue career goals
- Prep, plan, and organize content for upcoming summer months while the kids are out of school
Ministry Goals
- Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
Financial Goals
- Payoff the Car
- Payoff Medical Bills
- Payoff Other Outstanding Debt – (replacement microwave, refrigerator, hot water heater, bed, HVAC unit, and other debt)
- Pay Bills & File Paperwork
- 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.
