2 out of 3 goals complete from  last week. Lame excuse as to why the 3rd goal did not get done: I was not in a creative mood and took a nap both Saturday and Sunday instead. Hey it was Mother’s Day weekend.

Last Weeks Goals

1. DONE: Friday afternoon the whole family went to my favorite plant nursery and picked out a bunch of flowers for our front and back porch. Currently they are inside the house waiting for the frost advisory to lift today, so I can plant them (that will be a goal for this week)

Monday’s clutter haul had me feeling a bit exposed.

2. DONE: As of today I have gotten rid of 91 pieces of clutter in my home thanks to Money Saving Mom’s Clutter Busting Challenge.

3. INCOMPLETE:  I have a huge stock pile of red mesh orange bag and an idea in my head as to what to do with them, but lately  reading books have been getting more of my evening attention than crafts. I was thinking I would work on it Saturday or Sunday while watching some Netflix but then well you read my lame excuse above.

This Weeks Goals

1. Plant the Mother’s Days flowers with my daughter, and re-pot my indoor plants at the same time.

2. Continue to participate in Money Saving Mom’s Clutter Busting Challenge.

3. Start planning out our Summer School session: Yes we homeschool through the summer but on a very reduced schedule basically I shoot for 2 hrs a day  Monday through Saturday;each time we reach 6 hrs I count it as a day. We rarely manage 2 hours all 6 days as when the weather is nice I am more apt to join friends by the pool if they ask then insist on getting our daily 2 hours done.  Usually however, by the end of the public school children’s summer we have 5 to 8 days of school already under our belts. Which allows us to take a day off here and there as needed or wanted.

Things we did this week

1. Thomas and I ran a community 10K it was my son’s first 10K race he finished ahead of me and won 3rd place in his age division.

2. I woke up Mother’s Day morning to candy, chocolate, cards and paper flowers (she was green too and used one sided paper). I love my children I am so blessed

3. My husband and I had a date night Friday. Of course it started with an amazing dinner and then grew into a field trip to Goodwill and ended with an outing to Menard’s where we purchased the shelving we needed to organize our new shed.

On Going Goals

1. Exercise 5 days a week (managed 3 days)

2.  Spend 20 hrs a week working on the blog (did not keep track as well but I think I was close)

3.  Spend the last hour of every day screen free (success )

Did you set goals this week? How did you do?

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Wow! I think this is a first. I completed all 3 goals that I set for myself.

Last Weeks Goals.

1. Done: I finally got my daughters too small summer clothes on Facebook last night and by the time I woke up this morning I  had sold $22 worth plus another $4 worth in books she no longer reads; giving me another $26 to add to our anniversary trip fund.  Facebook really is the easiest way I know to get rid of unused items.

2. Done: I successfully posted and linked up to Money Saving Mom’s Clutter Busting Challenge all three days last week, and have my most embarrassing post to date ready for today.

3. Done: I ran the errands that my husband required of me all week long for the sale of our previous home and later today we sign the papers.

One of those tasks was watching a one man crew put this ready built shed into place in our back yard. I then arranged for two teens to help my husband and our three children empty his existing shop at our old home and fill this shed.

This weeks Goals

1. Pick out plants for my front step planters and the planter on the porch. (this is my families Mother’s Day gift to me every year)

2. Continue in Money Saving Mom’s Clutter Busting Challenge.

3. Try an idea I have involving a mesh orange bag and a crochet hook (or possibly knitting needles).

On Going Goals

1. Exercise 5 days a week (managed 4 days)

2.  Spend 20 hrs a week working on the blog (did it and more)

3.  Spend the last hour of every day screen free (failed 2 times this week )

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I completed 2 out of the 3 goals I set for myself last week. I am going to consider it a winning week though as I was down for 3 full days with a horrible cold. My husband also managed to get that cold at the exact same time so little was done around our home until Friday when we both started feeling better.

Last Weeks Goals

Goal 1: FAIL  I did not get around to taking pictures of my daughter’s outgrown clothes to post on Facebook for friends to purchase once again. Considering my husband and I have big anniversary plans coming up in early June and we are planning on using mostly funds I raise through selling our no longer needed items I really need to get a move on.

Goal 2: PASS

I will reveal my entire project simplify makeover tomorrow but here is a sneak peak. The horrific clutter pile on my dresser is gone. All that is left is a basket that contains the office supplies I use daily when I write in our room, and a tray containing a tea tin stuffed with my daughters artwork that she gave me one Mother’s day and a pewter tin full of batteries I use for my headlamp (I use it to read at night if I can’t sleep and my husband is, as well as to light the road on early runs with my running buddies).

Goal 3: PASS

I have my wonderful husband to thank for the completion of this goal. I was upstairs writing while he dragged up every piece of the front porch furniture out of the basement and placed it on the porch. By the time he was done he was exhausted since his fever was just breaking that day. Once I saw my surprise, I asked him what on earth got into him and he replied “I just could not stand laying around one more minute”. Got to love a hardworking man.

This Weeks Goals

1. Finally get those pictures in an album on Facebook for the two friends who are waiting to buy. Thankfully they are summer clothes and it has yet to be warm enough for their children to really need them yet.

2.  Join Money Saving Mom in her May challenge: I am anxiously awaiting for Crystal to announce all the details but guessing from the picture she showed on her Facebook page those taking part will be tossing 7 things for all 31 days in May. That is 217 things out of my home.  I am hoping to sell a lot of these items through various avenues to fund a memorable anniversary trip for my hubby and I.

3. Do all the leg work for completing the sale of our previous home. My husband passed me a long list of errands and phone calls that I need to make so that he can make the most of his day off completing other tasks involved in the sale.

Ongoing goals

1. Exercise 5 days a week (managed only 2 times last week due to cold)

2.  Spend 20 hrs a week working on the blog (did it)

3.  Spend the last hour of every day screen free (failed 3 times this week )

 What are you goals for the week?

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I totally bombed on last weeks goals. My excuse, I did a lot more socializing than I planned to.

Yep, I am blaming it all on my friends. Shortly after publishing my goals one of our favorite couples to hang out with stated that a visit was over due, and so we decided on Sunday afternoon, which grew to Sunday from 12:30 to 8pm. That was a 7 1/2 hour event I did not see coming when I planned out what I was going to get done last Monday morning early.

I also would do it again in a heart beat, friendships mean the world to me. I did get some knitting and locker hooking done as we talked and I had a blast, so much so that my throat hurts from talking so much.

Last Weeks Goals

goal 1: Get my daughters too small clothes up on Facebook so my friends can buy what they want before I look to other avenues to sell them: NOT DONE!

goal 2: Finish next weeks project simplify task: NOT DONE! (but it is getting done today since I have to post about it tomorrow, oh the power of blogging  in achieving goals).

goal 3: Run my 13.1 just for fun! DONE. I had a few chats along the way with various runners. Slapped hands with a few children who were watching on the side lines and even managed to cross the finish line within seconds of the WINNER (yeah um…the winner of the FULL while I was doing the HALF…hee..hee.. sorry runner’s humor got the best of me!) Still it was so neat to see them set out the ribbon and hear all the cheers!

3 Snail Pace Goals For This Week

goal 1. Get those clothes on Facebook, I have 2 friends waiting for pictures and a envelope marked “anniversary trip with hubby” that needs to be funded.

goal 2. Complete the project simplify task of the week.

goal 3. Get my porch furniture out (finally a sunny spring like week in Central Indiana!)

On going goals

goal 1: Spend 20 hours a week writing and building blog. (get as many of these hours as possible done before the weekend)

goal 2: Work out 5 times a week for 1 hour.

goal 3: Spend the last hour of every day screen free (preferably reading a book instead)

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I seem to be on a roll of 2 out of 3 goals done per week.

Last Weeks Goals

1. Complete this weeks project simplify task

This week it was closets and I picked my linen closet. I will reveal the makeover here tomorrow.

2. Go through my daughter’s summer clothes and see what still fits her

This is complete, and I was right hardly anything fit. Thankfully I managed to find a clearance rack at Walmart early last fall that had a tonne of t-shirts marked down to $1 and a tonne of maxi dresses marked down to $3 in the next size up and they do fit her great. She does need shorts but she can get by with the few pairs that fit her and the dresses until I find a good deal.

3. Sew 3 more burp clothes

This did not get done and neither did taking out my racing bike (which was my alternative). I  instead spent a day having what I call a “timer fun day”

Timer Fun Day: A day in which I get into my comfy clothes and grab a book I want to read and a timer. I then write guidelines out for time slots. For instance this Saturday I read for 1 hour then cleaned for 15 minutes then did computer work for 30 minutes then cleaned for 15 minutes and repeated  that cycle through out the whole day with the exceptions of meal breaks. By the end of the day I usually have a book completely read, a house tidied, several computer tasks done, and I feel rejuvenated.

I know it sounds bizarre but it really does work well for me, as it makes reading a reward for cleaning and cleaning is done in such small stints it does not seem so overwhelming.

3 Snail Paced Goals For This Week

1. Get the clothes my daughter out grew out of  on Facebook for my friends to have first dibs on purchasing.

2. Finish the next project simplify project.

3. Run a 13.1 race just for FUN. Not for a time, not full out: This might seem odd to some of you. After all I did pay money for this race would I not want to do my best. However this is my first race back since my injury in September and I have still not gotten back the endurance I once had. I don’t want to push myself so hard I end up injured due to not being completely ready for a full all out 13.1 mile race. So I plan to slap little kids hands when they put them out for me to slap. I plan to chat up runners who look like they need a word of encouragement, and most of all just truly enjoy the race. (and in light of what I just learned about the Boston Marathon explosions, I am going to take a mile to pray for all those effected by this tragedy)

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Last Weeks Goals

1. Sew 3 more burp clothes

I swapped out this goal when the weather got nice during the latter part of the week to complete a goal I had set a few weeks ago but was unable to do because of cold temperatures.

I took my new racing bike with it’s egg beater style pedals out for a ride. Well sort of, first I practiced for 20 minutes in a local school parking lot (after school hours) then I rode it the 1 mile ride home. All in all I was very happy with my progress but I don’t feel confident enough to take it out on the open road for a long ride yet. I am thinking of taking it on a paved trail near us for a few miles soon though.

2. Get registered for races I want to do this year.

I got my sons and I all signed up for a bike race in June. They are going to do 20 miles on their mountain bikes while I do the 40 mile loop on my racing bike.

My eldest son and I are also signed up to do a local 10K running race in May. It will be his first 10k race as well as mine. Somehow I skipped doing a 10k and went straight to half marathons and full marathons.

I have a few more races lined up that I have not registered for yet either because I am waiting for a friend to see if they can do it with me or I am waiting to see if at the 1/2 marathon I run 2 weeks from now they will give out a discount code for money off the upcoming races I want to do (this is normal practice at races and can really save you money).

3. Complete one decluttering task

I ended up clearing off what is always the messiest shelf in our home. I will reveal it tomorrow as my project simplify update.

3 Snail Paced Goals For This Week

1. Complete next weeks project simplify task.

2. Go through my daughter’s summer wardrobe as see what still fits her. (I am thinking nothing, she grew like a weed this winter)

3. Sew 3 more burp clothes (but if the sunny weather comes back after the rain of today this might become take my racing bike out for 3 to 6  miles on the local paved trail)

Did you set any goals for the week?

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How I did last week

1. I got 14 hours of my goal of 20 hours of blog work done before the weekend:

It was spring break for the public school kids in our area, so we ended up having friends over one day which meant shifting a few hours of blog work to the weekend.

I could have made up some of that lost time on Friday but I decided to make a 10 year old happy and spent the afternoon baking sugar cookies in the shapes of bunnies  with her. We also made my mom’s wacky cake recipe (vegan friendly)  into 12 giant cupcakes complete with bird nests on top.

2.  I did not get rid of the pile of clutter on my dresser but I did get our socks under control

You are looking at 48 pairs of new socks. Gold Toe is my favorite brand of socks and Big Lots often gets them in and sells them for a great price. Why 48 pairs?

All 5 of us currently wear the same size of socks. So I decided it was time to stop the odd sock madness and simply have everyone wear the same style of socks and store them in a central sock bucket. No more odds, no more whose socks are these, questions.

I guess I could have made room for clearing my dresser on Sunday but I started  “You Are A Writer” by Jeff Goins, and just could not put it down (if you like to write  but struggle with thinking you have what it takes I highly recommend this ebook).

I justified my lack of follow through with the dresser project by thinking I swapped it out for the sock project and went on to read the entire ebook and a bit of another one.

3. Sew Something: I made burp clothes

I got my new sewing machine out and tried out a pin for burp cloths off my Baby Gift Ideas Pinterest board. The first two had wonky corners but the third one actually looks giftable (yes I made the word up). I am looking forward to sewing some more;which brings me to this weeks goals.

3 Snail Paced Goals For This Week

1. Sew 3 more burp cloths

2. Get registered for Races I want to do this year (running, biking and triathlon)

3. Get one organization project done: I am discovering I do better if I set the goal of 1 declutter/organize project a week instead of picking a specific project since honestly I hate decluttering and organizing. However if I give my creative self leeway to at least pick the project I am most in the mood for I have better luck at getting a clutter hotspot gone each week.

Did you set any goals for the week? I would love to hear about them in the comments.

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I only fully completed one goal from last week. I am now completely caught up on this season’s episodes of Biggest Loser and am looking forward to the finale.

Spending  time chilling with some TV watching and knitting helped me finish a project that you are going to want to come back on Wednesday to see.

I got another of my 3 goals half done. I uploaded some prints from our last years Disney trip, but I never had a chance to upload more and pick out what I wanted.

The clearing off of my dresser…..

…well that did not happen.

Birthday cupcake made by my daughter with the help of her dad.

I am blaming my failure to finish all my goals to things that came up that I wasn’t expecting such as….

1. A birthday coffee date with a dear friend that lasted from 9 am to 11 am.

2. A dinner out with the hubby that went from 4 pm to bedtime.

3. The discovery that my middle son had successfully outgrown his entire last summer wardrobe and all his current jeans. Which lead to a shopping trip and a closet clear out.

3. A mom and daughter night out cashing in birthday freebie coupons for yummy free desserts that we split.

4. Now this last reason creates many new goals…..

….I bought a racing bike. I have been a mountain bike owner for years (like 20+ yrs). However when I did a sprint triathlon 2 years ago on my mountain bike, I caught the bike racing bug and that created the desire for a racing bike. I had put off the purchase for years waiting for both a deal and the money to purchase.

I got it! Very long story but it was 50% off at a local bike store and we had the money saved.

This is the part of the bike that is going to create a whole new set of goals. That would be my new bike’s pedal system; my new bike shoes clip into this. I practiced some when I was at the store but am still not confident in my skills. I am also getting use to how high the seat is. On a mountain bike you touch the ground without getting off the seat, with a racing bike you have to get off the seat and lean the frame. I AM SCARED!

Which leads me to this weeks 3 Snail-Paced Goals

1. Take new bike to an empty parking lot on the warmest afternoon of the week and practice for 15 minutes clipping and unclipping my feet. (hopefully warm weather happens but it looks doubtful right now)

2. Register for a local bike race: I know myself. If I put down money on a race, I am going to train for it. If I am going to train I need to push past my fear of the new pedal system and just do it.

3. Finish uploading and then order 50 of our best Disney Vacation prints.

as for the dresser….well …. it can wait until another week.

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Many of you in my reader’s survey mention that you love my goal posts and want to see them return to the blog.

I took a month off goal posts because I felt like they were not 100% in line with the message of this blog, which is “transforming life at a snail’s pace”.

Here I was trying to inspire my readers to take small steps forward in their areas of struggle daily so as to achieve success and yet I was listing a huge goal lists that included areas that I already have achieved success in (like running).

So I am taking my own advice, each week I am going to post 3 small goals in areas of struggle that I want to accomplish so that I can inch by inch transform that area of my life.

Heads up, my biggest thorn in my side is always my housekeeping skills so I am assuming that most weeks 2 out of 3 goals will be housekeeping ones.

3 Snail Paced Goals For The Week

1. Find the top of my dresser: The top of my dresser has been missing for months. I want to find it this week.

2. Place an order for 50 free prints at Shutterfly using mycokerewards earned coupon: I am really behind in real life touchable photos, and my daughter has been begging for her dad and I to finish her autograph album from our Disney World trip last year, so I am going to start with those prints first. My over all goal is to catch up on photos over the next several months.

3. Catch up on Biggest Loser While Crafting: This might seem like a strange goal but as of late I have seem to have forgotten how to just chill and I miss it. So this week I am going to be intentional in watching a bit of TV as I work on a new project that I will be sharing with you soon.

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