June 3in30

Oh goodness gracious! Is it June already? May seriously flew by way to quick. Sadly, it flew by quicker than I could accomplish my goals. No worries, though, I’m pushing them aside and not giving them a second thought—at least not on this post. The power of prayer and positive thinking!

I thought I’d take a key from my friend, Aurie, and go with all new goals this month. I’ve been so focused on water/exercise, and obviously I’m not ready to make those commitments yet (although, with a unit ball and an awards ceremony coming up in a couple of months, I kind of need to!).

So…new month=fresh start. Here we go:

1. Finish Dividing Spirits by June 10th and get started on editing The Impossible Choice. For those who are in the know—The Impossible Choice, while not my first novel, is my most cherished. I’m going to breathe new life into it and see if I can’t have it ready for the ACFW conference in September. That’s going to be a lot of work, but as long as I can focus, I know it’s possible! Keep me accountable, okay? Anyone want to be accountability partners?

2. Get back into my diabetes diet. Yes, I fell off the horse again this month. I was doing so well in March/April. Then Connor got sick, and after being in the hospital for a week—well, I just didn’t get back into the swing of things. So, this month, I’m really going to focus on meal planning ahead of time, to make sure we aren’t relying on eating out or pizza three times a week. I KNOW my plans…now to put them in action!

3. Keep up with my Bible studies! Through my local homeschool group, we’re going through a book entitled “Ministry of Motherhood”, and then I think the PWOC might do something this summer. Not quite sure yet. Anyway, I tend to commit and then fall behind on these. My ideal is to wake up 30 minutes before the kids do in the morning to have some quiet time—however, it seems the earlier I get up, the earlier the kids get up! It’s a conspiracy!

This month has so many exciting new things in store for me, I just know it. May found me adding in assertive couponing, and June will find me officially homeschooling Kindergartners (I was going to wait, but the girls are so insistent about wanting to start now—that’s a good thing, right?). Now, hopefully I can take this juggling act on the road! Wish me luck—and pray for me! I’m going to need it!

Head over to my new website for chances to win points toward May's Grand Prize!

Mid-May 3in30

So...it's mid-month, how are you doing with your goals?

The month of May is just getting away from me! It's been crazy trying to keep up with everything. Doctor appointments ruled the first two weeks. Between myself, my husband, and our son, someone was at the doctor just about every day during the work week. Whew! That can be exhausting!

What did all this craziness mean when it came to my goals? Well, it meant I did not accomplish as much as I had hoped.

1. Reducing the amount of Diet Coke I drink: The first week, this was actually going pretty well. I was alternating soda and water throughout the day. This kept me down to about 3-4 sodas, which was a start! However, when week number two rolled around and life wasn't settling down, my will power gave way-esp when in line at the McDonald's drive-thru.

2. I have actually made quite a bit of progress on the line edits for Dividing Spirits. I'm about 1/3 of the way through, and anticipate finishing well before the end of the month. Yay! On the downside, I did find out on Friday that Dividing Spirits did not final in the ACFW Genesis contest. I moped around Friday, but pulled myself together on Saturday and dove back in!

3. Exercising: ugh. This is one that I keep meaning to do, but can't seem to work it into my schedule. About the only time that I can see a possibility of fitting it in is from 3:30-4:30 in the afternoon, which just seems like a strange time to try to squeeze in a sweaty workout that requires a shower. Anyone else want to weigh in on that conundrum? On the up side, though, I have been "moving" more. I've cut my computer time during day, and have been playing with the kids, cleaning, etc. Things that require me to get up/out and move!

The nice thing about a mid-month check up is that it gives you time to evaluate and refocus. I still think my goals are attainable, I just need to buckle down and work hard!

What are you looking forward to in the latter part of this month?


Ralene's BeachFest Trivia Questions: (Points are doubled this week!)

What was my dad's profession growing up?

What does my husband do?

What is the name of my current work-in-progress?

MORE FUN:

I will draw a random commenter from today to win C.J. Darlington's Thicker than Blood.

May 3in30

Okay, so if you followed by blog at all last month, you know that April was one of those up and down months. I semi-finaled in the ACFW Genesis contest (yay!), but my 10-month old son also spend a week in the hospital (boo!). So, when it came to my goals for the month, I seriously lacked focus, motivation, and time.

I did make some progress on one of the goals: Drinking more water. Yay! I figured out how to make the yucky Hawaii water taste better, so am more inclined to drink it. I pulled out my trusty, green water bottle and filled it up, stuck it in the fridge. And there it sat. So pretty. I did manage to get through at least one water bottle a day, so now I just need to keep using it more and more. Take it with me when I leave the house—stuff like that. One thing that I’m going to try to do to help with my water intake is the basis for my first May goal.


1. Limit my soda intake. Right now, I probably drink the equivalent of a 2-Liter of Diet Coke a day. Yes, it’s THAT bad. My goal over the next 4 weeks, is to start replacing some of that soda with water. I hope by the end of the month, Diet Coke becomes an occasional treat (like when eating out), instead of a daily necessity. This will also help me save a few bucks in the budget department.


2. Finish up this round of edits for my WIP as well as the query letter/synopsis to go along with it. After I find out about the finals for the Genesis contest, I plan to start the querying process with this novel.


3. Exercise! I want to start exercising 3-5 times a week. Over the last month, I acquired a few new accessories to help me with this. Hubby got a great deal on a Kinect that a buddy who is moving to the mainland was getting rid of. It came with Zumba! I also invested in The Biggest Loser workouts for Kinect as well. On top of that, hubby finally cleared out the garage and set up his weight bench and my Gazelle. Now, we really don’t have an excuse not to workout. I hope to start walking a bit too, even if it’s just to take the kids to the park that’s not right next door.

So, there you have it folks. My plan for May.


Ralene’s Beachfest Trivia Question:

What is my middle name?

April Goals for 3 in 30

In the month of March, I participated in the 3 in 30 challenge hosted by two amazing blogging mamas. At the end of February, I posted three goals I wanted to accomplish for this month. You probably don’t remember, so here is the short recap.

1. Finish major edit of Dividing Spirits.

2. Drink more water.

3. Start walking.

Well, you’ll be happy to know that I accomplished exactly ONE of those goals. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, then you already know I finished my major edit of Dividing Spirits. Exciting, I know!

Now is the time to let you in on what my goals are for April.

The first two are going to be the same goals I had in March, but was not successful with. So, my first goal is to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Since society has successfully ingrained in my head to be scared of tap water, and bottled water is ridiculously expensive, I invested in a filtered pitcher (the nozzle on our tap isn’t the right kind to hook up a filter). This way there is always cool, healthier water for me in the fridge.

I’m also going to start walking more. The park is about a half mile away, so if I take the kids there three times a week, that’s a mile—which is definitely a start right?

My third goal is probably the one to put the most pressure on me. I want to read and rewrite most of The Impossible Choice. IC (as I fondly refer to it as) was the novel before Dividing Spirits. The story was beloved by many of the people who read it (professional writers and good friends/family). However, I set it out to 3 agents and pitched it at a conference with no bites. At first, I was pretty bummed and put it aside to write Dividing Spirits. Lately, though, I’ve felt the push to go over it again.

Last night it hit me. I knew how to fix IC! Most of it anyway. I started jotting notes down like crazy. My mind just would not be quiet—which is a good thing, I suppose. So, for those of you who thought I gave up on that emotional and suspenseful novel, have no fear. It’s coming back bigger and better!

I hope you were able to accomplish your goals last month! If you would like to share your goals for April here, we can keep each other accountable—a checkup mid-way.

Happy April!

3 in 30 March Goals!

In case you haven’t heard of 3 in 30, it is basically a large support group geared toward helping people achieve 3 of their goals in 30 days. They began in January, but March is the first month that I’m joining in. So here are my goals for March:

My first goal is to drink more water. I’ve gotten out of this habit and completely fallen back on Diet Coke and I can tell the difference. If I want to be active and lose weight, I need to stay hydrated. I’ve got a nice water bottle in storage, so when we get that out, I plan to use that to keep track of how many ounces of water I’ve had for the day—flylady style. I’ll keep colored bands around the bottle, and every time I fill the bottle up with water, I’ll move a strap up. This way I don’t forget how much I’ve had or try to cheat myself out of the benefits of staying hydrated.

Second on my list is to start walking…another habit I’ve let fall to the wayside. With all the moving and the frustration of getting three little kids ready to go out and being in hotel…well, I just haven’t had the patience to do anything. But now I say, no excuses. Get out and do it! Be a force of Nature (see my other blog!). I want to start by walking 3 times a week.

And last on my list is the most exciting for me. I want to finish my WIP, Dividing Spirits. I mean, finish it completely, editing and all that jazz. I’m on chapter 23 of my big edit/rewrite, which means I have 18 chapters left. After that will be at least one other run through to pick up anything I missed. I plan to devote at least 2 hours, 6 days a week to get this done.

So, who wants to join me? What are your goals for the month? Let's share and keep each other accountable!