Setting Christ-honoring, achievable goals for 2009

I love the beginning of a new year! It feels like a fresh start, a clean slate, and a time for some reflection and goal-setting.

As I've written in the past, I prefer to set goals, not resolutions, for the new year. Resolutions often seem like unattainable propositions which often only last for a few days or weeks. Setting Christ-honoring, achievable goals for the year, provides direction and keeps me from aimlessly wandering from year-to-year accomplishing little.

My husband and I sat down a few days ago and made up a list of goals for 2009--goals for our family, goals for us personally, and goals for our business and finances. It is helpful to make these together so that we are both on the same page for the direction of our family; I also appreciate having my husband's input on my personal goals so that I make sure what I'm focusing on is truly enabling me to be a better helper to him.

Here are my personal goals for 2009:

::Finish reading through the Bible. (I’m currently in Jeremiah, reading 1-3 chapters per day, and hope to finish Revelations by the end of the year--if not sooner!)

::Memorize Genesis 1 with the girls.

::Go through and organize, declutter, and decorate our entire home before the baby is born. (I'll be doing this in a fun series here on my blog beginning in a few weeks, stay tuned!).

::Create and implement a chore system for the girls.

::Read the entire Little House on the Prairie series aloud to the girls.

::Read at least 50 books. (If you‘re friends with me on Facebook, you can see my planned list of books to read on there along with the progress I‘m making on these. As I finish books I find exceptional, I‘ll try to do my best to post a review on one of my blogs).

::Become more proficient in knitting and finish at least one project every other month.

::Learn to crochet.

There are many more things I could have listed, but I'm trying to keep it simple and not bite off more than I can chew--especially since I'm having a baby in a few months!

In an effort to stay on track and be highly motivated to not just start but also complete these goals, I'm planning to do a post at the beginning of each month chronicling my progress (or lack thereof!).

I'd love to have you join me in this. Post about your goals for 2009 on your blog and then leave your link below (if you don't have a blog, feel free to share your goals in the comments section). At the beginning of each month, you can come back here and share your progress. Let's all keep each other accountable to be wise stewards of the time and resources God has given us.

photo by Vanessa Pink-Russell

Christmas Morning Biscuit Twists

This recipe is one of our family's very favorite recipes. I originally adapted it from an old, falling-apart Better Homes and Gardens bread cookbook my mom had when we were growing up. I've made these countless times and they are so easy to do and so yummy!

We like to serve these fresh out of the oven on Christmas morning. They are also great paired with an Egg, Ham, and Cheese casserole and fruit for a simple Christmas brunch.

Christmas Morning Biscuit Twists

Biscuit dough:
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
3/4 cup butter or 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening
1 cup milk

Stir together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add milk. Stir just until moistened.
Turn dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead for 4 to 6 strokes.

Roll dough out into a rectangle (approximately 1/4-inch thick).

Brush with 2 Tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle with 3 Tablespoons brown sugar.

Fold rectangle in half and cut into about 1-inch strips.

Twist strips and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

While baking, mix together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and a few teaspoons milk (enough to make the mixture of drizzling consistency). Drizzle over biscuit twists as soon as they come out of the oven.

Winners of the Gracie ruffle skirts!

Since so many of you were interested in the Gracie ruffle skirt giveaway from marie-madeline studio, they have kindly offered to give away TWO skirts instead of one. The randomly chosen winners are:

Allison (dayranger@)
Sheila (sheila@)

48-Hour Giveaway: Gracie ruffle skirt from marie-madeline studio

First things first, the winner of the Elsie Dinsmore Audio Collection is: Rose Atwater

******************
Today's giveaway is compliments of my friends from marie-madeline studio and if you have a special little girl in your life--either a young friend, a niece, a grand-daughter, or a daughter, you're going to love this one!

One winner will get to choose their very own size and fabric specifications for one of these lovely Gracie ruffle skirts shown above. The Gracie ruffle skirt is a sweet, twirly, girly skirt designed especially with comfort in mind.

Both of our girls have two different matching Gracie ruffle skirts from marie-madeline studios and they love them. Best of all, the skirts are very versatile--they are perfect for church or play!

You can see some of the various skirt options available here but truly, the possibilities are just about endless!

By the way, if you've never ordered from marie-madeline studio before, I'd highly recommend them. They do fabulous work and we've been very pleased with everything we've gotten from them. And if you order by December 20, 2008, you can get free shipping on everything in their store!

To enter to win this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post by Thursday, December 18, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. CST. Be sure to include your name and blog address or email address so I can get in touch with you if you win.

Are you going to the SAICFF?

The San Antonio Independent Film Festival is coming up January 8-10, 2009. Will you be there? Lord-willing, our family will be there and we are already getting very excited about it!

We loved the opportunity last year to view wholesome films, encourage independent film-makers, and listen to excellent messages on reclaiming this culture for the glory of God. However, more than all of that, we were so encouraged and blessed by the tremendous fellowship we had with like-minded believers from all over the country. Even if you aren't remotely interested in films or film-making, the fellowship that an event like this provides is worth every penny of the cost to attend.

If you're planning to attend, we'd love to get to meet you. Leave a comment here or send me an email (biblicalwomanhood @ sbcglobal.net) so we can make sure and meet up!

Frugal Friday: Adventures in "making do"

Ever since our move and my many weeks of being down and out with morning sickness, our cupboards and pantry have been quite bare. (Four or five months of little to no bargain-shopping or coupon-shopping while at the same time eating mostly from the stores of food on hand without replenishing them will definitely whittle away at them rather rapidly!)

And so I've had a lot less on hand to work with in the last month and when it's grocery store day, I feel as if I don't go shopping there will literally be nothing to eat. Or at least that's certainly how it felt when you'd open up the cupboards, freezer, and refrigerator.

However, this week I proved that theory wrong.

You see, I've been needing to go to the grocery store all week but everyday something came up with prohibited me from being able to go. Monday--the day I was originally planning to go--I was completely wiped out. Jesse offered to go for me (as he is so kind to often do!) but I didn't have my grocery list, menu, or coupons in order yet and judging from our non-menu-week fiasco a few weeks ago, I knew it wasn't a good idea to shop without a list or menu made up.

Tuesday, it snowed and the roads in our neighborhood were too icy for us to get out. Wednesday and Thursday other more pressing needs arose and somehow the days slipped by without time left for either Jesse or I to make a quick trip to the store. I'm sure you know how that goes!

So I stayed home and made do for four days past when I thought we "really needed to go to the store or we were going to have nothing to eat"! And somehow we didn't go hungry.

In fact, with some extra creativity and ingenuity, we ate pretty decent meals--even though our cupboards looked beyond bare. After scrounging around our refrigerator, freezer, and cupboards, I found we had: oats, brown sugar, milk, bread, peanut butter, tangerines, grapefruit, frozen veggies, potatoes, and frozen ground beef and steak.

So we ate oatmeal with brown sugar and milk for breakfasts with tangerines or grapefruit, we had peanut butter sandwiches for lunch (sprinkled with a little brown sugar since we were out of both honey and jelly!) with tangerines or grapefruit, and we ate hamburgers and steak for dinner with potatoes and frozen veggies.

Sure there wasn't a whole lot of variety and we didn't have the most elaborate meals by any means (however, we're pretty used to that since we've been eating very simply anyway these days!), but we had plenty to eat. And we got by just fine.

We're all looking forward to replenishing our stores come tomorrow (when I have determined that regardless of snow, ice, exhaustion, or whatever, I am going to get out and go grocery shopping!), but we also learned that even if the cupboards seem beyond bare, there's probably something we can come up to make with what's on hand. And that, in itself, can be a fun frugal adventure!

___________________

Have a frugal tip or thought to share? Post about it on your blog and then come back here and leave your link below so we can all be motivated and inspired. Remember to keep it family-friendly, and post directly to your blog post, not to your blog homepage. Links going to the homepage of your blog or any other part of your blog besides the direct link to your Frugal Friday post will be deleted.

Letting go of less important things

I loved this post by Jess today. Here's a snippet:

What I'm saying is this: don't heap on guilt because you don't have whatever someone else has or aren't doing what someone else does. We don't always see the whole picture.

If their kids are getting all the most expensive and "must-have" things for Christmas, it could be that they scrimped and saved all year. Or maybe they got a windfall bonus and decided to have a big Christmas this year. It could be that their grandparents are wealthy and give extravagantly (sometimes even despite the wishes of the parents). Or perhaps they're in mounds in debt.

Whatever the case, and whatever the reasons for their situation, someone else's life doesn't have to speak judgment into your life and your actions/inaction.

Everyone leaves some things undone.

Read her full article here.

All of us mothers need the constant reminder that none of us are SuperWoman and it's okay to not do everything and be everything to everyone. In fact, I think it's a good thing if we pick and choose what our most important priorities are and focus on those things--at the expense of other less-important things.

My priorities are likely going to look different than yours. In this season of my life I'm focusing on: being a help meet to my husband; nurturing and training up our children in the ways of the Lord; keeping our home running in an (somewhat!) orderly fashion; exercising, drinking lots of water, getting enough sleep, taking my vitamins, and eating well in order to stay healthy during this pregnancy; reaching out to those in our church and community, and encouraging and helping other women through my blogs.

These are the priorities my husband and I feel God has called me to right now and these are what I invest the majority of my time to. In the process, though, there are many things that I don't do or have let go for right now. Here are some of the things I'm currently "letting go of":

::Sewing and knitting. I love doing handwork and would love to pick it up again sometime soon, but I've let it go for now.

::Decorating. Aside from a few Christmas decorations, we don't have anything up on our walls yet. I'll get to it sometime, but probably not until after the first of the year.

::Time-consuming cooking. While I have done a little baking, for the most part our meals have been super, super simple recently. Something like hamburgers or steak, frozen veggies, and potatoes or rice or bread.

Those are just a few things I'm leaving undone right now; I know I could come up with plenty more! What about you? What are your priorities right now and what other things are you letting go of in order to focus on what is most important for you and your family?

Giveaway: Elsie Dinsmore Books 1-7 Audio Collection (7 CDs!)

For those of you who enjoy the Elsie Dinsmore books by Martha Finley, you'll be excited to learn you can now get books one through seven as audio recordings, thanks to Vintage Voice Recording!

This seven-CD set recorded by gifted narrator Laurie Manteufel includes the following audio books:

Elsie Dinsmore

Elsie's Holiday

Elsie's Girlhood

Elsie's Womanhood

Elsie's Motherhood

Elsie's Children

Elsie's Widowhood

That's over 60 hours of audios which your whole family will enjoy! To read more about these recordings or listen to audio clips, visit Vintage Voice Recording.

Vintage Voice Recording has generously donated a seven-CD set for me to give away to one reader here on my blog. To enter to win this giveaway, just leave a comment with your name and email address or blog address (so I can contact you if you win).

This giveaway will be open through Monday, December 15, 2008 and a winner will be randomly selected and announced shortly thereafter. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only.

A few of our favorite Christmas CDs

We've been listening to a lot of Christmas music here the last few weeks and I thought it might be fun to share a few of our favorites:

He Is Born by The Wilds--I'm a wee bit partial towards this CD seeing as my sister did all the arrangements/orchestrations and played the harp on it. But my partiality aside, I promise it's really good. In fact, it's likely our most-listened-to CD this year. You can hear a sampling of this recording here. And of course, I think everyone should own a copy. :)

The Majesty and Glory of Christmas--I love the beautiful choral arrangements of well-loved Christmas carols on this CD. Quite majestic and uplifting!

Simply Christmas--These simple piano arrangements have "a fresh and soothing sound with a touch of Christmas sparkle that is sure to brighten the season and add warmth to your holiday." You can listen to some clips of this CD here.

Others we've also enjoyed: Christmas With Friends, Christmas Card, and "Christmas Carols Radio" on Pandora.com (search for "Christmas Carols by London Church Carol Choir").