So, in order to meet my goals this year, I want to do bi-monthly check-in’s for accountability!  If you want to see my original goals for the year, check out my blog post Straining toward what is ahead (https://logsdonsbigadventures.com/2016/01/07/straining-toward-what-is-ahead/).

Here’s the second round: March and April.

Physical goals:  I’ve still been working out pretty regularly at the Y.  I like to do Zumba there but one of my girlfriends challenged me to come do “Body Flow” with her.  Now I’ve never been a big fan of Yoga.  When Trent and I did P90x a few years ago, yoga was the one video that we absolutely HATED.  We would do just about anything to NOT have to do the yoga.  Granted, this is quite different, but it’s really made me hate yoga for a while now.  So for me to do this was kind of a big deal.  It really made me step out of my comfort zone because it is certainly not the work-out I would have chosen, but I’ve grown to actually like it.  It’s definitely different than the high tempo, high energy work-outs I’m used to, but I’m starting to get into it.  I do see it helping with strength and balance, and quite frankly, it is nice to do something quiet and relaxing.  Other than that, I haven’t been running much except a few random times here and there, but I don’t have anything I’m training for so I haven’t been so motivated.

Juicing… FAIL.  I think I’ve juiced like twice in the past two months.  I really need to step up my juicing game (but cleaning the juicer is such a chore!).

Not that I put a lot of stock in my weight (we don’t even own a scale), but I’m down to four pounds less than I was when I got pregnant with Jedidiah, so that’s cool.  🙂

Financial goals:  Well, we’re still working on this one, but it seems like we’re starting to have a little extra money (finally).  We’ve been able to make some bigger purchases of things we’ve been needing for a while now, so that’s a relief.  I’m still giving Spanish lessons twice a week and I’ve taken on a new gig tutoring a Kindergartener once a week.  It does help me feel like I’m helping without needing to leave Jedidiah for a long period of time.

Trent got a new job for next year, praise the Lord, but unfortunately he has to do some training this summer.  Fortunately, he will get a stipend for that, so that money will be helpful as well!

Relational goals: Date nights… check!

In March we went on several dates.  Some with the baby and some without.  We thought it would be special to celebrate our anniversary as a family by going to a Spurs game.  We ended up going to see the Spurs vs. the LA Clippers and it was an AWESOME game, not only because we won, but because we had so much fun together!  We loved it!

• We also spent a day as a family at Landa Park in New Braunfels.  We love this park and we enjoyed a beautiful day strolling around enjoying the weather and nature.  Jedidiah loves to be outside, so he had a great time.

One of our dates without the baby was to celebrate our friend Laura’s birthday.  Laura had a baby about a month before Jedidiah was born, so we were pregnant together.  We had dinner on the Riverwalk and then we went on a Ghost Tour, which basically takes you around downtown San Antonio, through the old battlegrounds of the Alamo and to different historical landmarks.  Although we didn’t see any ghosts, it was really cool to hear all the crazy stories about hotels that were once insane asylums and crazy stuff like that.  I really enjoyed learning more about our city’s history.  Apparently there are some pretty haunted places in good ol’ San Antone.

Our other date was a random night when a friend offered to come over and watch Jedidiah.  She basically forced us to go out and have a date, in a good way.  We drove up the street to the new Wal-Mart and just wandered around aimlessly.  We meandered and goofed off and really had a fun time.  Then we headed over to Old Main Ice House, a new bar down the road from our house.  It’s pretty cool.  One of my old girlfriends works there as a bartender, so it was nice to catch up a bit with her and then hang out and enjoy the nice weather.  We got ourselves a couple of Blue Moons and hit up the food truck and just hung out.  If you haven’t been there yet, it’s definitely worth checking out.  It’s a great atmosphere and they have different food trucks every night!

April date– Trent and I left the baby with his parents while we attended another friend’s birthday party.  Scarlette used to go to church with us and we’ve stayed in touch over the years.  For her birthday she had a Harry Potter themed party.  Although I wouldn’t consider myself a Harry Potter nerd, I do enjoy a good costume party!  We went as Bellatrix Lestrange (me) and Sirius Black (Trent).  We had a great time celebrating, but as always, we were eager to get back to our bubba!

We also got to go on a family date in April.  April is Fiesta time in San Antonio.  I think this is the only city that gets a day off of school for it.  Anyways the party lasts for a few weeks, but Trent, Jedidiah and I went to Alamo Heights Night with some of his co-workers and friends.  It’s always a lot of fun and it was a beautiful night.  Plus Jedidiah LOVED the fireworks at the end of the night!

I haven’t hosted a second get-together yet at the house, but we’ll be doing one in the next month or so, so you’ll be able to read about it in the next check-in.

Spiritual:  I am still on track to read through the Bible in a year!  My Bible Study gals and I are doing it together, which gives me more accountability.  Praying… I’m getting better about it but I’d still like to do this more often!  Verses memorized, yep!  Even one extra for February (when I forgot).

In March I memorized Isaiah 53:4-7 in honor of Easter.  This was a prophecy about how Jesus would die for our sins.

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

My make-up verse for February was 2 Chronicles 7:14.  This is my prayer for our nation and for those of us who call ourselves believers.

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

The passage I memorized for April was one of my favorites: Ephesians 6:10-17.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Intellectual:  I have been using my Spanish much more often, reading books to Jedidiah and giving private lessons.  I did reach my “book-a-month” quota; unfortunately I wasn’t able to read much more than that.

In March I read a book called “Three Graves Full.”  It was pretty good.  There were a lot of twists and turns and it was very exciting towards the end. 

In April I read a book called “Babylon Rising: and the First shall be Last” by Rob Skiba.  I found him on YouTube (he has his own channel) and I’ve really enjoyed listening to him and learning from him.  The book itself is very interesting and is about the end times when Babylon will again be a major player.

Personal:  My goal here was to spend a day doing one thing I love each month.

In March, I’m not sure I did that.  It was a busy month full of fun stuff but I didn’t really finish any projects or anything like that.  In fact, I only wrote two blog posts the entire month!  So I guess I need to make this somewhat of a priority.  I also didn’t finish my birth story photo book yet… that was supposed to be my March project.  Well, maybe it will be my May project instead…

In April I worked on several photo books- all for Mother’s Day.  I made one for my mom, one for my grandma and another for Trent’s mom, all of Jedidiah.  I’d been meaning to do it for a while now, but needed the Mother’s Day deadline to really make the push.

Here’s to staying on track for the next few months!  How are you doing on your new year’s resolutions?