Monday, February 3, 2020

My 6 Goals For This Week and more...

Psst! I'm giving away this stack of books on Instagram tomorrow morning. If you're not following me there, you should be so you can enter to win! I didn't accomplish a whole lot off my goals list last week, but I did accomplish a lot that mattered — ...

Intentional finance. Intentional family. Intentional business.

My 6 Goals For This Week

Psst! I’m giving away this stack of books on Instagram tomorrow morning. If you’re not following me there, you should be so you can enter to win!

I didn’t accomplish a whole lot off my goals list last week, but I did accomplish a lot that mattered — investing in the kids/Jesse, investing in my local community, doing respite care for a 10-year-old girl while her foster mom was out of town, launching my 4-Week Blog Coaching Program, working on my book, making family memories, and making sure to take care of my health.

So I’ll call it a win — even if it doesn’t look like it on paper. Some weeks are like that, aren’t they?

2020: Week 5 — Goals

Personal Goals

1. Get in 54,000 steps total. (I use the FitBit Ulta HR to track my steps every day.) 

2. Finish reading The Path Between Us and Not So Perfect MomFinish listening to Originals: How Non-Conformist Move the World.

Home/Family Goals

3. Read 40 pages of Carry a Big Stick aloud as a family.

Work/Blog Goals

4. Edit introduction through chapter 3 of my manuscript.

Word of the Year Goals

5. Pop popcorn and watch another classic movie as a family.

This week is another full week. We have something going on every night, we have some extra things going on during the day, and I’m headed to camp with Kaitlynn and the rest of my 8th grade girls’ group from Youth Group this weekend.

I’m also noticing that I am having to slow down and rest a lot more now that I’m entering my third trimester. My energy just isn’t what it usually is and I need more sleep and naps.

So, once again, I’m keeping my list short!

2020: Week 5 — Goals

Personal Goals

1. Get in 54,000 steps total. (I use the FitBit Ulta HR to track my steps every day.) 

2. Finish reading The Path Between Us and Counterfeit Gods. Listen to The Atomic City Girls.

Home/Family Goals

3. Read 40 more pages of Carry a Big Stick aloud as a family.

Work/Blog Goals

4. Finish editing chapters 1-3 and finish the rough draft of chapter 4 of my manuscript.

5. Run a book giveaway on Instagram with some books I’ve already read.

Word of the Year Goals

6. Pop popcorn and watch another classic movie as a family.

What are YOUR goals for this week? How did you do on last week’s goals? Tell us in the comments!

    
 

Bloggers: Last chance!

Just a quick reminder — registration for my 4-Week Blog Coaching Group closes tonight!

Here’s what Ana emailed me a few days ago:

I was at your first 4-week blog coaching group and God has blessed me so much since then. Today, I’m making a 6-figure annual income from blogging and have nearly 5000 students taking my courses and hundreds of homeschool families in my membership.

The best part is that because of that, my husband is now home and we’re traveling all over the USA RV-ing full-time with our kids!

-Ana from www.TheyCallMeblessed.org

If you missed my earlier post with the details on this opportunity, here they are again…

I receive so many emails from bloggers asking for personal coaching and help. While I wish I could take on lots of individual coaching clients, I just don’t have the bandwidth to do that regularly.

However, I have a really special opportunity for those of you who would love to hire a blog coach — and it’s super affordable, too!

I’m opening back up my wildly popular 4-week Private Blog Coaching Group again for the month of February. This is something so many people have asked for and I’m excited to offer it after months and months of having it closed!

What is the 4-Week Blog Coaching Group?

The 4-Week Blog Coaching group is a group designed to help you grown and succeed as a blogger.

It’s an intensive program where I teach you the lessons I’ve learned from failure and success, share secrets I’ve uncovered for building traffic and monetizing your blog, give you encouragement and motivation for when you’re feeling exhausted and burnt out, and provide accountability and cheerleading to help you live out the purpose for which you were created.

This program is for you if you are:

  • A newbie blogger who wants to learn how to monetize your blog, produce consistent and inspiring content, and grow your readership.
  • An intermediate blogger who wants real, actionable advice to help you increase your income and develop a more effective social media strategy, all while having a great work-life balance.
  • Any blogger who is stuck in a blogging rut and paralyzed by the overwhelming noise of advice from “online experts” — who wants clarity and tangible steps to move forward and reach their blogging goals.

What Do You Get When You Sign Up?

This is NOT another blogging eCourse where you absorb tons of information, but have no way to actually turn the information into real, applicable steps.

This is an opportunity to interact with me and a network of like-minded bloggers and get answers to the pressing questions that matter to you and your business.

In this coaching group, you’ll…

  • Get direct access to me via our weekly LIVE 1-hour online workshop where you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the topics you are struggling with the most.
  • Interact with me and other bloggers in the daily discussion threads designed to help you set and meet your goals, find accountability, develop friendships, and network with other bloggers.
  • Learn how to increase your income through affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsored posts, brand partnerships, and digital & physical product creation.
  • Develop an intentional social media strategy that boosts your traffic, generates revenue, and builds long-term momentum.
  • Discover proven techniques for planning and writing successful blog posts that are engaging and compelling for your audience.
  • Design an effective overall plan for significant email list growth and long-lasting relationships and trust with your subscriber base.
  • Create a manageable and realistic system for daily blogging tasks and to-do’s that allows you to have sustainable work-life balance.

You get all of that for just $97 total — which is much less than the price that most coaches charge for just one hour of their time!

Ready to join? Read all about it here.

Hurry! Spaces are limited and registration closes on February 4, 2020!

P.S. Any questions? Leave a comment or send me an email and I’ll do my best to answer it promptly!

    
 

Gretchen’s $87 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

Aldi

2 gallons Milk – $2.41 each

0.78 lbs Roma Tomatoes – $0.54

1 Ranch Dressing – $0.89

1 box Granola Bars – $1.15

1 box Crisp Rice Cereal – $1.45

1 pkg Hamburger Buns – $0.85

1 pkg Oven Roasted Turkey Breast – $3.99

1 box MooTubes – $1.55

1 Taco Mix – $0.39

2 dozen Eggs – $0.95 each

1 loaf Bread – $0.85

1 loaf Bread – $0.95

1 Honey Bear – $2.89

1 bag Gala Apples – $2.79

2 Half & Half – $1.55 each

1 Lemon Juice – $2.39

2 pkg Chunk Cheese – $1.69 each

1 bag Tortilla Chips – $0.89

2 Avocados – $0.39 each

1 Unsweetened Applesauce – $1.95

1 bag Shredded Cheese – $2.75

1 bag Mandarins – $2.69

2 Cucumbers – $0.49 each

1 box Thin Wheat Crackers – $0.98

1 bag Frozen Broccoli – $0.99

1 can Black Beans – $0.48

1 can Refried Beans – $0.75

Total: $47.12

Kroger

2 Family Size Box Cheez-Its – $1.99 each

3 lb package Ground Beef – $7.47

3 pkg Strawberries – $1.25 each

2 Red Baron Frozen Pizzas – $1.99 each

1 Kroger Flour – $1.59

3 lb Butter – $1.99 each

2 Kroger Mac & Cheese – $0.50 each

2 boxes Corn Chex Cereal – Marked down to $0.99 each (I don’t know why these didn’t make it in the picture.)

1.31 lbs Grapes – $1.95

1 Sargento Sliced Cheese – $1.79

1 bag Baby Carrots – $0.99

2.07 lbs Bananas – $1.22

1 bunch Cilantro – $0.79

1 Kroger Cream Cheese – $1.19

Used $0.20 Ibotta rebate for any receipt

Total: $37.45

Publix

3 Publix Soda – $0.99 each, used $1/3 e-coupon – $0.65 each after coupon

1 Mountain Dew Zero – $1.99, used Free e-coupon – Free after coupon

1 Minute Rice – $1.67, used $1.88 Ibotta rebate – Free plus $0.21 overage after rebate

1 Del Monte Bubble Fruit Cups – $2, used Buy One, Get One Free Publix coupon AND $0.75/1 printable – $0.25 after coupons

1 Breakstone’s Sour Cream – $1.32, used $0.75/1 Ibotta rebate – $0.57 after rebate

1 pkg Mission Tortillas – $1.37, used $1/1 printable – $0.37 after coupon

1 Vero Gusto Pasta Sauce – $5.99, used $6/1 Ibotta rebate – Free plus $0.01 overage after rebate

Total after coupons and rebates: $2.92

Total for all groceries: $87.49

Menu Plan for This Week

Breakfasts

Cereal, Eggs, Toast, Oatmeal, Yogurt

Lunches

Turkey Sandwiches, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Tossed Salad Bar, Mac & Cheese, Cheese/Crackers/Fruit/Veggies, Leftovers

Dinners

Homemade Cheese Pizza, Breadsticks

Grilled Hamburgers, Chips (leftover from last week), Fruit Salad

Snacky Dinner (Cheese/Crackers, Fruit/Veggies, Chips & Bean Dip, Puppy Chow)

Pancakes, Eggs, Fruit Smoothies

Homemade Chipotle Bowls

Savory Crescent Chicken Pockets, Steamed Broccoli

Spaghetti, Biscuits, Steamed Peas

    
 

Pregnancy update (week 27) + some posts you might have missed


27 weeks! And I feel like I’m carrying really low — can you tell that here? (Aside from the pelvic pressure, I’m not complaining one bit because it means that I actually still have some space underneath my lungs!)

Highlights

This past week was a super full week. In addition to the usual routine of working full-time and writing my book, we had activities every night but one night, Kathrynne celebrated her 15th birthday, and we did respite care for a sweet 10-year-old girl all week whose foster mom was out of town.

So I think the highlight for me was just making it through with a smile still on my face. I worked hard to prioritize rest and down time, because I need 2-4 times the amount of downtime that I usually do right now or I just end up completely exhausted.

Notable

I started drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea this week, we got a crib from friends, got our pack-n-play/bassinet in the mail, and got a box of diapers. It’s really starting to get real!!

My chiropractor has been such a Godsend as I’ve been having back and shoulder pain (to be expected as my belly grows larger!) and she’s helping me with different things to minimize it. This is my first pregnancy to regularly go to a chiropractor and I’m a huge fan!

Cravings

I’ve been eating a lot of cereal with whole milk. In fact, I usually have two bowls every morning. It hits the spot and it doesn’t give me heartburn!

Weight gain: 19 pounds

Random question: Do you think the 3rd trimester starts at week 27 or week 28? I feel like the internet and baby sites/trackers are very conflicted on this!

Did you see what I got in my FREE Target Baby Gift Registry Bag?

In case you missed it, I did an in-depth post on the 5 books I finished last week + my honest reviews.

This past week, we posted what has quickly become one of our most popular podcast episodes to date. Have you listened to Secrets to a Happier Marriage yet?

Just a quick reminder — registration for my 4-Week Blog Coaching Group closes on Tuesday morning. If you are a beginning or intermediate blogger who wants to take your blog to the next level, don’t miss this.