10 things

Inspired by a friend's blog post and as my journal entry for the day here is:

10 things from the year 2013   

                                                                                        

1.  Recipes and cooking.  This year and lately I feel like I have been more daring and experimental on my cooking and menu planning.  I use online recipe websites quite a bit to search for recipes that sound the best or to find recipes that use ingredients that I have.  For now I am just cooking for two, so I know when we have children in our family someday, things will change some as far as menu and meals and stuff, but for the most part I feel WAY better and more confident about trying a new recipe.  It’s been pretty fun.  For example, one of the things we made this year was California rolls.  Will found a video online how to make them and after watching the video we made them.    I have really tried hard to incorporate healthier items into the meals we eat and eating lower calorie items for snacks and things. 

2. Fitness goals and running races.  It’s been a little over a year since I started running more and tracking my calories.  I have lost some weight.  My clothes fit better and I feel healthier.  It’s great.  I’m not as good at tracking the calories now as I was when I first started doing it.  I use the app My Fitness Pal on my android device.  One of the best motivational things for me this year was knowing that I had signed up for or planned for an upcoming 5K race.  So on the weekends and even when we were out of town; I made a special effort to get my running in.  When we went to Mountain Home, or camping for the weekend, or on our trip to Alaska, I packed my running shoes and gear so that I could be prepared for my upcoming races.  By knowing they were coming up I had a reason to train.  I feel like my biggest accomplishment was the Preston Biathlon (5K running and 14 miles bicycle).  My time wasn’t all that great, but I finished and I wasn’t the very last person!  For my birthday I got a GPS watch and heart rate monitor so that I can train better and be able to track my outdoor running.

3.  Fertility/Children.  At the beginning of 2012, I felt really gung-ho about staying on top of my appointments with the doctor’s office and having a plan of other things to try and do to figure out why I haven’t gotten pregnant yet.  I still feel that way.  Unfortunately 2012 wasn’t the year to add a child to our family, like I thought it would be.  I kind of fizzled out the last couple of months as far as going to appointments and stuff, but I think I’m ready to go back again and see what else we can find out.  I’ve been considering more and more about trying natural remedies and things like acupuncture and foot zoning and other “natural ways” to see if my body is just not in synch or what.  Adopting a child is still out there as an option, too.  It just seems like all the avenues we take haven’t been very productive.

4.  “It’s only stuff”  “It’s only money.”  Will and I have been blessed to be able to both work full time and earn a good living.  We have saved a lot of money.  We have taken a lot of risks and investments.  When we first got married I was really hesitant about spending money and taking risks in real estate and other things.  Over the years we have made some good investments with our money and we have also lost a lot of money.  But my attitude and feelings have changed such that “it’s only money” or “it’s only stuff”.  I am still very wise with what we do with our money and before we buy anything or spend it on something that looks like a great business idea or investment, we do our homework and pray and decide if it’s a good thing.  Like I said, we have lost a lot of money.  It’s hard for me to put into words about how this has been a good thing, but I guess what I’m trying to say it, I’ve come to the realization that we have each other, we have friends and family, we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have our basic needs met, and so if we lose everything else, we will still be okay. 

5.  Alaska trip.  We had an awesome trip to Alaska this year.  Much of the reason we went was because we needed to take care of our boat and business.  But we had some awesome experiences and it was great to get away from work and things at home for a week and enjoy some time together. 

6. Backpacking trip.  A yearly tradition is a backpacking trip.  It’s a great lesson in gratitude for the things and comforts we enjoy but also a chance to enjoy the beautiful outdoors.

7. Primary music calling.  It is still awesome.  I still look forward to going to church every Sunday so that I can play the piano in primary.  I feel like it has made me a better pianist which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because most of the songs in the Children’s songbook are fairly easy to play.  But I think that’s one of those tender mercy blessings that I have received for serving.

8. Scripture reading in mornings during breakfast using android.  Okay so scripture reading has never been my forte in life.  I feel like I was really good at it during my full time mission, but since then it’s been hard to fit it into the daily routine and schedule.  I have definitely done better and improved on this during this year.  While I eat breakfast I sit down and use my droid device and read from the book of Mormon on there.  It has a bookmark so that all I have to do is press the screen and it takes me to where I left off last time.  It has been great.  I look forward to reading every morning.  I am not as good about doing it on weekend mornings when the routine isn’t quite the same as during the work week.

9. Feel more organized with business accounting and tax information.  Being self employed and having your own business can be a challenge when it comes to taxes.  Each year when the end of the year comes around and tax season looms, it has been a huge headache to try and get all the information together for taxes.  This year has been 200 times better due to the fact that I categorized the spending and kept up on a monthly basis of the expenses and income.  I hope to continue with that because it has been so nice. 

10. Budgeting.  I am still using the note card budgeting system every month.  We use a variation of the “cash system” that Dave Ramsey talks about.  Instead of carrying cash with us, we still use our credit card, but we save all our receipts and I deduct them off of the specific note card based on the category of spending it is.  I know it’s not 100% perfect, but it is pretty close and it makes me feel good about how much we are saving every month.