Becoming a better me...

I've decided to spend these last few weeks leading up to Christmas attempting to better myself. I'm talking an all-out improvement of mind, body, & spirit. The last year has been a roller coaster of hopes and disappointments surrounding my husband's career. There is still a possibility that we will have to pick up our family and move to a larger city, but we are praying (selfishly, we admit) that we'll get to stay here in IA. Anyway, all of this stress has taken a toll on me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Though we still don't have any definite answers, I am needing to take control somehow. So, this is my plan.

Week of Nov. 4th (I did start this rather impulsively yesterday): Release tension, regain flexibility, and reduce physical stress. Sounds like a big goal, but for me it's really all about yoga. As a former yoga instructor, there have been times in the last decade that I spent anywhere from one hour to 8 hours a day (during trainings) practicing yoga. During those years, I rarely carried any stress in my neck or shoulders, and it was so easy for me to relax my body even during tense situations. I chose to stop teaching yoga last spring, and I have since spent more time doing strength training and cardio. That's all well and good, but my back, neck, and shoulders are paying the price. This week, I am dedicating time every day to yoga. I will still run too, but the yoga will be a bigger priority. I aim to let go of the tension in my neck and stand taller by the end of the week.

Week of Nov. 11th: Drink tons of water. Okay, maybe not tons, but I will drink at least half my body weight in water every day. I will start my day with 8 oz. of water with a drop of lemon essential oil in it. This helps to curb any non-healthy cravings I tend to have throughout the day. I have a 20 oz. glass water bottle that I'll attempt to fill and empty several times each day. I have already eliminated most pop from my diet, so I'll be fine drinking only water. I think I will allow myself one mocha sometime that week, as I realized for the first time in my life on our recent trip to WA that I do, in fact, like mocha. A lot. 

Week of Nov. 18th: Reduce sugar intake. You may recall reading a post a while back about how I was buying less sugary products for our family. That is still true. It's also true that when there is Halloween candy in our house, I have a difficult time resisting it. And when my husband picks up caramel dip along with our weekly purchase of Honeycrisp apples, I cannot resist that either. Frankly, I still have a huge sweet tooth. I really want to work on that so I can be a better role model for our children. Of course, I tend to save my sweets for when the kiddos are in bed, so they usually don't see me partaking in them, but still...

Week of Nov. 25th: Focus on gratitude. I know many people do this all through the month of November. I admit that even I participated in the "30 days of thankfulness" posts on Facebook a couple years ago. This year, I was thrilled to find this idea in our church's children's ministry newsletter. This is supposed to start a week before Thanksgiving, but we are going to do it Thanksgiving week instead. Each day, the family will take turns at dinner naming one of the following:

1. One gift you've received this year that you're thankful for.
2. Two things you've learned about God this year that have changed your life.
3. Three things you're thankful for about our family's faith.
4. Four things you're thankful for about our family.
5. Five experiences our family had this year that made you happy.
6. Six things in creation you couldn't live without.
7. Seven people outside our family who blessed you somehow.         

Week of Dec. 2nd: Begin a daily Bible reading. I used to be so good at staying in The Word daily. There were three or four years that I followed a calendar that had an Old Testament and New Testament reading for each day, so that by the end of the year, I had read through the entire Bible. I've also take a Disciple Bible study that read through the majority of the Bible. However, in the last year, the only time I've spent studying God's Word is with my children. Don't get me wrong, that has been great! It is a special time we have before I tuck them in at night. My daughter is still reading her Kindergarten Bible to me; she'll be done with it by the end of the year and I'll have to find her a good devotional. My son and I have been reading his 3rd grade Bible together since he received it in church last year. We read through one OT book, then one NT book, and then keep alternating. We're almost finished with Leviticus and I'm looking forward to getting into Luke during Advent. There are awesome little side notes in his Bible that have helped us both to understand Biblical times better. But, I still need to be doing my own study. I need quiet time with God. Getting started on this during Advent will help me to feel the peace and joy of the season. Also, our church gives out wonderful Advent devotionals that our family reads every day beginning on the 1st Sunday of Advent. This year's even includes some activities for the family to do together.

Week of Dec. 9th: Catch up on my writings to my children.  I began writing in a journal to my firstborn before he was even conceived. Every year, I have written to him in the journal around his birthday (and sometimes half birthdays). I began journals for my younger two when I was pregnant with them and have kept them current as well. That is, until this year. My oldest turned 10 in September and I have yet to update his journal. I can't even remember if I wrote in the other two back in March when they turned 3 and 6. This is weighing on my ever-tired, but crazy-with-consistency mind. During this week, I will catch up on their journals. I will also go through their baby books and school year books to make sure everything is filled in. I'm pretty sure there are some blank pages towards the back of my youngest's baby book...

Week of Dec. 16th: Write to friends with whom I have inadvertently lost touch. Sadly, I'm sure I am not the only one who just gets busy and falls out of favor with certain friends. Sometimes distance plays a role in this happening; sometimes it's just my own laziness. I know of several people I will be reaching out to during this week. I pray that they'll forgive me for not always being a good friend. I want them to know that I spend great amounts of time thinking about and praying for them even when it is not obvious.

That will take me up to the week of Christmas. I'm hoping by then that by spending a three weeks on my body, two weeks on my spirit (which will continue on indefinitely), and two weeks on my mind, I will be feeling refreshed and ready for the holiday. Actually, I plan to continue the yoga, water-drinking, less sugar-eating, AND daily readings indefinitely. If you would like to take this journey with me, please do so! If you have other suggestions for any of these areas of improvement, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

P.S. I did get pictures at our 90s themed murder mystery:

It was all that and a bag of chips! ;)

P.S.S. I also spend time before Advent planning something Christmas-y to do with the kids each day. Once I have our fun things all laid out, I'll post those for you too!

*For those new to my blog, check out the beginnings of ABC Summers here.*