As a family, we’ve been collectively working on going to bed early and getting up early. When we follow our plan, it’s always amazing the difference it makes! Today was such a good Monday and I think a big part of that was because we went to bed early, got a great night’s sleep, and all got up early.
I think it’s also helping a LOT that I’ve been following through with my #Choose30 Challenge to get up and exercise, shower, get dressed, and read my Bible before doing anything else. No more wearing my PJ’s at 10 a.m. in the morning!
When I get dressed in something that makes me feel great, it always helps me have an extra spring in my step and more focus and productivity.
If you’ve been feeling like you don’t have any energy and are just spending your day running around in circles, I encourage you to try getting up a little earlier, exercising and getting dressed, and making a simple plan for your day. Sometimes, something as simple as a few tweaks like that can make a world of difference!
Meet Lillian. Kaitlynn spent a lot of time with her today and made her a collar and leash. 
This is totally my kind of pet — no messes to clean up and no allergies to worry about (Silas and I are both really allergic to just about every animal. As a result, much to my kids’ sadness, stuffed animals have to suffice for our family in the pet department!)
After getting up early, exercising, showering, getting dressed, and reading my Bible, I spent some knocking out some blog projects, answering emails and comments, and scheduling some blog posts and social media posts.
(Photo courtesy of Silas — he wanted me to show you all his list so he took 20 pictures for me to post!)
Then I got the kids up to eat breakfast and work on their morning chores. We are still loving the Daily Lists idea… and now that they’ve gotten into more of the routine of doing these, the kids get so much done, the house is staying so much cleaner, and everyone is happier all around. I highly recommend this idea!
Kathrynne started reading The Lord of the Rings a few days ago and she is lapping up the first book. I wasn’t sure if it would be above her reading level, but she keeps telling me how interesting, exciting, and engaging it is.
I’m finding her with her head stuck in the book almost every extra minute she has… and I couldn’t be happier to raising such a voracious reader!
After morning chores and breakfast were done, we sat down for Morning Time. We’re loving The Cricket in Times Square so far. It’s a fun and light read, but I think we’re all going to want to visit NYC after reading it!
Jesse got home near the end of Morning Time (he had been at the gym, running a few errands, and in a business meeting) and brought me a Starbucks coffee — Pike Place coffee with lots of cream, just as I like it! I love that man!
Kaitlynn was afraid Lillian might run away, so she made sure she stayed put during Morning Time. 
After Morning Time, I gave instructions to the kids to start working on their independent work and I gathered up my bag, coffee, and made a sack lunch before heading out for another string of allergy tests at the allergist.
Right about then, Kathrynne came to me worried and reminded me that I’d taken my meds last night and wasn’t I supposed to be off of them for the week before I did the allergy patch testing?? I completely forgot that the doctor had told me at my appointment last week. Whoops! Thankfully my kids are more on-the-ball and paying better attention than me!
So I called the allergist and they were so gracious to let me reschedule. Oh well, I wasn’t really looking forward to wearing patches all over my back for the next two days anyway… especially since I wasn’t going to be able to shower until they took them off on Wednesday!
So instead of heading out the door, I hung out with Jesse for about 20 minutes and we talked about life and did some business brainstorming. And then I took 15 minutes to clean out my purse.
I was thrilled to realize that my purse wasn’t at all as bad as I thought it would be. I’ve been trying to make a habit of always thoroughly cleaning it out when I return from a trip and it seems this habit is helping quite a bit.
I dumped everything out of my purse and here’s what was in there. I happy that there was so little trash and very few things that weren’t supposed to be in my purse!
I also cleaned out Purse Emergency Bag. This little bag is filled with everything that I often find myself needing or wanting — lip gloss, tissues, essential oils, tampons, breath mints, Advil, hand sanitizer, lotion, and so on.
I use something from it almost every single time I go somewhere and love that when someone says, “Does anyone happen to have ____?” I often do, thanks to my Emergency Bag.
After my purse was cleaned out, I left Jesse with some instructions for the kids, told everyone goodbye, and headed out to work at our shared office space for the afternoon. I spent this afternoon getting caught up on email, working on projects, scheduling social media posts, and writing some blog posts.
And now I’m headed home for dinner, to work with Kathrynne on getting caught up on the laundry (she’s been doing most of the laundry, but I help her out when it gets a little behind like it often does over the weekend), and to hopefully do some knitting while Jesse reads aloud to us (he’s recently started reading aloud to us in the evenings and we all love it and so does he!)
How was YOUR day? Did you get any cleaning done? Tell us about it in the comments!
One of my big goals for 2015 is to be more home focused. We made some significant changes in December to make this desire of mine become a reality. And I’m almost 6 weeks into 2015 and I just can’t even begin to express how thrilled I am at the difference these changes have made!
The last two years have been r-e-a-l-l-y stretching for me on so many different levels. And I don’t regret the decisions we prayerfully made for me to be on the road or as involved in as many projects as I was. I grew so much and God was so faithful, even in those times when it felt that it was physically and emotionally possible to do everything we felt He was clearly calling me and our family to.
But in December, I really felt that the season was coming to an end and I feel so settled about it. I’ll still be traveling and speaking some, developing a few new products, and working on a few big projects, but we’re really streamlining this year and being incredibly picky about which opportunities I’m saying “yes” to.
We only set a few business goals (as opposed to our long list of goals last year!), and we’re also bringing on some new team members (God has brought some of the most amazing and perfectly-suited people my way in January and I’m so grateful!)
All this to say, I’m loving this new season of life and soaking it up. And I’m also loving that there is much more margin in most of my days, we’re spending so much time together as a family (often just hanging out and being together!), and that I’m doing a much better job of getting my goals crossed off.
I’m so content at such a deep level. And I’m so grateful.
It feels like such a gift to have this season of reprieve and I’m humbly grateful that, after years of Jesse and I working so hard, we’re finally at a place where we can both work a lot less and carve out the lifestyle that we feel like God has called us to and the rhythm of life where each of us will best thrive.
Last week’s goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Continue on with our Morning Time routine. Read aloud for at least 20 minutes every day.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
3. Have a family movie night.
4. Work with the kids to help them learn their new chores (we just added a few new chores to each of our kids’ daily lists and Silas, especially, is needing a little extra help learning how to do the chores.)
Personal Goals
5. Exercise at least 4 times.
6. Finish at least two books.
7. Knit a Cosy Posy Ear Warmer. (I’m hoping to finally get this started this week!)
8. Try two new Trim Healthy Mama recipes: Raw Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter Pancakes.
Business Goals
9. Get back with bloggers interested in the ePantry opportunity.
10. Tweak my presentations and slides for the Friday night Say Goodbye to Survival Mode event in Mississippi.
This week’s goals:
Marriage/Mothering/Homemaking Goals
1. Continue on with our Morning Time routine. Read aloud for at least 20 minutes every day.
2. Write a love note to Jesse.
3. Have a date with Jesse.
4. Write a note of encouragement to one person.
Personal Goals
5. Exercise at least 4 times.
6. Finish at least two books.
7. Knit a Cosy Posy Ear Warmer. (I’m hoping to finally get this started this week!)
8. Try two new recipes: Trim Healthy Mama Waffles and Hot Fudge Pie.
Business Goals
9. Shoot a short video for a project I’m working on.
10. Finish up edits on the script/handbook on my soon-to-be-released course. (More details coming soon! I’m SO excited about this and how it’s coming together thanks to a great team who is putting so much heart and effort into it!)
How did you do on last week's goals? What are your goals for this week? I'd love to have you share your progress on last week's goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you've blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let's cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives! You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.
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