Good Monday morning!
Our new fall homeschool/work schedule begins today… and I’m really happy with the schedule Jesse and I worked out together. Now, I just have to commit to being faithful and disciplined to get up early for it to work. 
I had originally landed on 5:30 a.m. as my wake up time. But then, we looked at the schedule as a whole, talked about our goals, and realized we needed to bump things earlier in order for Kathrynne to have her school done in time to make it to her afternoon swim practice.
In addition to that, Jesse had already committed to be up by 5 a.m. four mornings each week — three for his early-morning workout time with a group of guys here and one for his early-morning Men’s Group meeting with guys from our church.
So, we decided to just bite the bullet and set 4:30 a.m. as our wake-up time. Yes, I know, we might be a wee bit crazy. Or a lot more than a wee bit crazy.
However, I’m in the middle of writing my third book and this will allow me enough time to have two blogging/writing blocks of time per day (one in the early morning before the kids get up, one in the afternoon after my homeschooling time with the kids is done and Jesse takes over the homeschooling/afternoon activities).
Plus, this will also allow me to have some good one-on-one time teaching/working with each of the kids and some relaxed and laid-back family time/time to hang out with friends in the late afternoon/evenings — both things that are big priorities in my life right now.
This all sounds good and well on paper, but we’ll see how it actually shakes out in real-life. I believe the number one key will be my own personal discipline to actually go to bed by 9 p.m. every night. I haven’t been doing so hot with my bedtimes recently, so that’s for sure going to be my biggest challenge.
Which is why I’m so glad I committed to blog about this 10-day Rise & Shine Challenge from The Abundant Mama. Folks, I need this.
I need the swift kick in the behind to get back to being much more intentional about my mornings. And to make early rising a habit again.
Today’s Rise & Shine Challenge Assigment
Today’s assignment was to consider what your ideal morning would feel like, how it would flow, and what sounds you would want to hear.
For me, an ideal morning starts early. Yes, maybe as early as 4:30 a.m. 
It involves spending time in God’s Word and prayer first thing. Drinking coffee. Exercising. Showering and getting dressed in something that makes me feel great. Doing a little cleaning. And then attacking my morning computer work, emails, and blogging with energy and efficiency.
My ideal morning is getting up at least a few hours before my kids do and taking some time to prepare my heart and self for the day plus getting all the morning business work out of the way before my kids even wake up. I know that’s not always possible, but that is what ideal looks like for me.
As far as sounds go… probably the most important sound would be the sound of quiet. Second on there would be the sound of appliances running — washer/dryer and dishwasher. And maybe a little bit of upbeat music in my headphones for part of the morning. But mostly quiet. Have I mentioned that I relish quiet??
This Morning’s Report
- Got up at 4:30 a.m.
- Read my Bible, prayed, read a chapter from a devotional book and a few devotions from two other books.
- Took a short 10-minute cat-nap because I couldn’t keep my eyes open (I’m all about keeping it real!)
- Felt more energized (it’s amazing what a short nap can do!) Made some iced coffee.
- Exercised, showered, dressed.
- Switched the laundry and took the big pile of clean laundry out to the living room couch to fold later this morning.
- Cleaned out my inbox. Scheduled some posts. Then wrote this post. All before 7:30 a.m. Woot!!
How has your morning been so far? How does an ideal morning look like for you?
