Monday, February 8, 2016

The Goals of 2016

You should see my brain storming goal sheet.  Its a mess.  But that's kind of what brainstorming looks like, isn't it?  All the thoughts, pieces, and notes, trying to find where they belong.

Even though I didn't get into the hype of New Years Resolutions like I normally do, I did still set some goals.  When setting my goals I start off looking at my priorities. They fall under these six categories:

1. God
2. Family
3. Health
4. Overseas move
5. Writing
6. Homeschooling

Then I set different goals for each of the six categories.

God
1.My most important goal, if I accomplish nothing else, is to read my Bible every morning. Usually I read it at night, but the temptations there is to put it off because I'm so mentally tired from the day. I really feel that reading it first thing will really help me become more consistent all together and help me focus on things above for my day.

2.I would also like to read more non-fiction books that encourage me in my walk with Christ. (I don't have a specific number of books for this.  I probably should considering goals that aren't S.M.A.R.T. are harder to complete.

Family
Under family my goals revolve  around spending more meaningful time together.  So, I've resolved to do the following:
1. Have two family nights a week (two nights where we read, play games, or go outside together)
2. Have four non-dinner dates with my husband.  (We roughly have about one date a month but we always go to dinner. I'm trying to break that)
3. Have three one-on-one "dates" with each boy.

Health
1. Workout consistently three times a week.  I'm currently using the T-Tapp method.
2. Eat less sugar.  I'm working towards this by making one healthy, (low or no sugar) treat a week.
3. Go to bed by 10:40.  My goodness this is so HARD!
4. Wake up by 6:40.  My real reason for goal number three.
5. Be consistent taking my supplements.

Overseas Move
Ugh.  This is a hard one because there are a lot, I mean a lot, of things that are not in my control with this one.  But here's what I got:
1. Declutter
2. Learn the Language
3. Complete some specific paperwork.

Writting
My writing goals are:
1. Write for at least 10 mins everyday.
2. Work on outline for book
3.  Read good writing.

Homeschool
1. Start by 9am every morning
2. Continue reading good books aloud.  Seriously the best part about homeschooling!
3. Include more writing into their lesson plans.

After setting my goals, I asked myself what needs to happen for each of these things to become a reality.  For example, in order to have a family night, we need to set aside two nights for this.

I also am working on making plans for each of these goals.  For example, I'm looking at different decluttering challenges to decide which one would work best for me.  I've also saved different writing prompts on pinterest in case I draw a blank.

Another thing I'm doing is not trying to accomplish all of these things right away.  I'm shooting for writing twice a week right now and I will increase as the year goes along.  If I try and master this whole list, which are mostly habits I want to create, I will burn out quickly.  These are my end goals. I want to be doing these things consistently by the time 2017 rolls around.  It will have to be built up.

What is your favorite goal for this year?  Which one of your goals do you view as most important?

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Top Five Movies

 When scrolling through facebook the other day I ran across a comment from a friend who mentioned a movie that was on his top five list.  The movie was Groundhog day, which he was appropriately watching on Groundhog day.   It was then that I realized that I didn't have a list of my own. So just for fun, I decided to make a one.

My top five favorite movies

I can definitely say that Pride and Predjudice (the one with Keria Knightly) is one.   Maybe its even THE favorite.   I could watch it most anytime. In fact, I could watch it now. ;) I know that the Keria Knightly version is suppose to be subpar to the Colin Firth version.  I've seen both and I disagree.  First of all Keria makes a much more excellent Lizzie. Secondly, the mother on the BBC version....I can't recall what it was exactly but I didn't like the way she was portrayed.  Thirdly, and perhaps of great importance, is the score.  I adore the music to the 2005 version.  Was there even music in the other?

Tom Hanks is hands down my favorite actor and it seams appropriate that one of his movies make it to my list.  Yet, I'm hard pressed to find a movie staring him to make it into the list.   Big? No.  Sleepless in Seattle?  No.  Cast Away?  I don't think I'll ever watch it again.  Tom Hanks is great, but I can't say his movies are my absolute favorites. Bummer.

If I can't narrow down the list by actors than I can try genres.  I enjoy action/superhero movies. Batman Begins, Avengers, Captain America.  Loved them all, but it doesn't seam like they should fit on such a narrow list of "Top 5".  Five isn't very many and you need to be selective when making such a list.

Ah, and now it comes to me.  Holiday Inn.  An unmistakable favorite.  I love that movie and its music. Although its an obvious holiday movie, I used to watch it anytime of the year.  Which if you've seen the movie you would know that this is perfectly acceptable because they cover ALL the holidays. Which would make it an ALL YEAR holiday movie.  Win-win.

When I first thought of choosing favorites, the movie My Best Friends Wedding came to mind.  Its funny and romantic and the ending is unique.  I also love the music to this one.  Best line? Perhaps its, "You are never going to be pudding."  Best scene? The chase scene when Julianne steal the bread truck. Yes,  My Best Friends Wedding makes the list.

Two left.  Ah choices, choices.  I'm tempted to quickly name these two.  Titles coming to mind are Sabrina, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Princess (1995), and Sense and Sensibility.  But these feel too close to movies that I've already named.

I mentioned that I had two open spots left on my list to my husband and he immediately reminded me of a movie that I love.  The Lord of the Rings! I honestly can't believe that I didn't remember it! I know that they are technically three movies but I think I should be able to count it as one because they are really one long story.  I love these movies so much.  Jonathan and I try to watch them once a year.

Lastly, I decided to revisit my love for action movies and chose the Bourne film Series. I love the story line to these and could watch them pretty much anytime.  If I could only choose one out of the series it would be the second; Bourne Supremacy.

So now I have my list of five.  I'm pretty happy with my list and feel that these movies will be on it for a few years to come.

What are your favorite movies?  Would you find it challenging or easy to keep the list at five?