Last week was packed full of a lot of extra activities, appointments, refinance closing, and travel some of the events were on the calendar and others we squeezed in because it was necessary.  The biggest blessing was being able to cross off our Refinance Closing.  The paperwork was submitted back in September and several of the documents re-submitted over the last couple of months because the lender couldn’t find the paperwork we gave them or one person didn’t give the next person the right information and so forth.  Now we can breathe a little sigh of relief to get that completed.

Even though I didn’t get everything done the good news is I am at least taking small steps in the right direction.  This week will not be a huge goal driven week because of the Thanksgiving Holiday.  My biggest “goal” is to spend quality time with my family.  Hopefully, as we spend time together I will get some necessary items accomplished but if not that is okay too because life needs to be fun every once in awhile, right!?  Jake and I have several joint projects that we are hoping to work on over the next few weeks and the girls want to put up the tree.  Some of my goals will be on “hold” during this week, you’ll see it pick back up again after Thanksgiving! 🙂

Here is the update on last weeks goals:

Family Goals

1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
2. Read a book to the girls everyday
3. Have the girls read 1 book to me 5 days this week
4. Do devotions with the girls every night (sometimes it gets late and we rush to get them into bed) – really need to do better on this one, we spent extra time before bed one night talking on the phone to Daddy since he was traveling this week instead.
5. Get the girls passport pictures taken – did not get their pictures done
6. Finish filing the last several weeks of coupons in my File Folder and Binder – didn’t get this done, other priorities popped up

Personal Goals

1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – did much better (4 days) but missed one day so can’t cross this one off
2. Finish reading  The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year by Crystal Paine who has a blog called Money Saving Mom (VERY excited about the opportunity to preview this book by a blogger I have been following for years and thankful to be featured on her blog weekly with the Save A Lot Deals!) – still reading other activities took priority this week
   
3. Listen to the next section of  Desiring God: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God by John Piper (I am going through this book with my Community Group)
4. Go to bed by 10:30 or earlier on Monday through Thursday – I was really bad at the beginning of the week getting to bed on time because I was trying to finish a project but I paid for it the next day.

Home Management Goals

1. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
2. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
3. Dinner on the table by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
4. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day – Jake was traveling this week so I had to move my laundry day up 2 days to help with packing and since we were only home for a couple hours that day I wasn’t able to get it done in 1 day, it took me 2 days this week.
5. File the receipts for the last couple of months and organize the table in the office. – still waiting to be done

Business Goals

1. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk – it was a wild week with Jake being gone, long doctor appointments, phone calls, refinance, and I didn’t do this really important task and now feel the side effects of it
2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
3. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
4. Research ways to create more residual income – didn’t get to it
5. Review my 2011 Business Goals and start planning ones for 2012 – I did write down a couple thoughts but didn’t get really in depth in this one so don’t feel right about crossing it off

Ministry Goals

1. Make at least $25 towards my Creative Cash goal this week so I can give more to others. – wasn’t able to do this one.
2. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
3. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch – I got to have lunch with Jake and his co-workers while supporting a local charity!
   

Financial Goals

1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
2. Close on our Refinance – Our plan is to go from the 30 year mortgage that we have been paying off to a 10 year mortgage with a lower interest rate. Sooooo THRILLED to have this one done!   🙂  We knocked 11 years off what we were currently paying by switching to a 10 year and the best part is we are now paying about $20 less every month with the new mortgage!
   
3. Pay off remaining debt – almost there
   
4. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses – on hold until the debt is paid off

Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

Family Goals

1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
2. Read a book to the girls everyday
3. Have the girls read 1 book to me 5 days this week
4. Do devotions with the girls every night (sometimes it gets late and we rush to get them into bed)
5. Spend extra time with my family over the Thanksgiving Holiday

Personal Goals

1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
2. Go to bed by 10:30 or earlier on Monday and Tuesday

Home Management Goals

1. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
2. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
3. Dinner on the table by 5:30 PM (Monday through Wednesday)
4. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
5. Put up the Christmas Tree

Business Goals

1. Spend 10 minutes a day cleaning and organizing my desk
2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week

Ministry Goals

1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
2. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch

Financial Goals

1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
2. Pay off remaining debt
3. Emergency Fund – save 3 months worth of living expenses

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