August Evaluation

Spiritual

• Read through the entire Bible in a year following a chronological reading plan- Got a little off the last couple of weeks but will eventually catch up
• Memorize a verse a week (for full disclosure I am starting with verses that I have previously memorized but have lost full memory of)- Not really doing this, but working on verses with my kids and believe this is where I need to focus my Scripture memory right now
• Spend 30 minutes daily concentrated on prayer and Bible reading- Did this about half the month 
• Continue to record daily blessings to cultivate thankfulness (Goal is 10,000 things)- Still doing this you can see this months blessings here, here, here, and here and the rest of the month will be up tomorrow 
• Praying throughout the day for specified things (still developing lists and plan for this)- Still struggling with this. We're finding a new normal for our routines

Personal

• Read a book a month apart from SWI matrerial- Yes! I read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Walk Two Moons and finished The Horse and His Boy as a family
• Journal 5 days a week- No
• Write (working on books) 5 days a week- No, but working on incorportating this
• Finish my first fiction book- Still seriously behind where I hoped to be at this point- This may not happen not this year either
• Write 3 blog posts a week- Did this 2 weeks
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- Met today!
• Have one day a month for personal retreat time to pray, read the Bible and write- Um, no
• Complete Level 1 of Rosetta Stone Russian- Plugging away
• Begin working on a Christ-centered prenatal/delivery/postnatal education- Have a date for the first class at the end of September. This month will be polishing information and setting up what we need for the class.

Marriage

• Go on a date once a month- Yes!
• Go on one overnight trip away- Done in May
• Read together for 30 minutes once a week- Um, No 
• Discuss and plan the week to come on Sunday afternoon- Yes

Kids

• Take each child on a "date" once a month- This might have happened. I cannot really remember
• Spend individual time with each child at home once a week (at least 20 minutes)- Still working on this. Some weeks were better than others
• Work on memorizing Psalm 23 with Jamey and Lillian- Yes! Both have it memorized as well as Psalm 67 with most of Proverbs 31:10-31 and Psalm 1. We are now working on verse with the school curriculum
• Finish current Pre-K curriculum with Jamey and Lillian- Started school this month
• Continue going to playgroup on Tuesdays- Yes
• (I need to develop more educational goals, so I guess a goal for this year will be learning to do this for next year)

Homemaking

• Begin a garden planting at least tomatoes (hoping to do more)- We have lettuce which we have eaten, and currently have plants growing for tomatoes, watermelons, cucumbers, green beans and maybe peppers (we're unsure due to labeling confusion)
• Try 1 new recipe a month- We tried 1 or 2 this month
• Keep up with cleaning calendar- No
• Develop general cleaning schedule- Working on tweaking the calendar I have to get everything but fits our lifestyle

Health and Fitness

• Exercise for at least 30 minutes 3 days a week- This happened about half the month
• Lose 30 lbs- Another plateau

Ministry

• Continue hosting Women's prayer once a month- Yes, still praying for more people to pray
• Email workers once a month- This month was crazy and this did not happen 
• Send 2 encouraging notes a month- No, still hoping to catch up and improve in this area

August has been a busy month as we wrapped up our summer, planned for school, started the kids' school, the rest of us started classes and are working to figure out our rhythm for this semester. God has been good and gracious to us, but it has still been a crazy time. Hoping that the semester will be productive even if it does fly by, as it seems it might.

How was August?