Life goals

As you can see in my VoluntarySimplicity post, I have recently been thinking a lot about what is important to me and what is just a waste of my time. I’ve really been convicted on the many ways that I misuse my time, and so I’m trying to correct it.

I decided to download and play with Life Balance, which is actually really cool. You write out your goals and the steps to get there and then it makes a to-do list for you that takes into account when you can do things, where you are going to be, and what must be done before other tasks can be done. I’m having fun playing with it. I found that they even have a plan you can download for Flylady (too bad I don’t use her system)!

As dh and I talked about it last night, we realized that our weaknesses in this area are actually very complimentary. Where I am weak, he is strong; Where he is weak, I am strong. So now we are working together to see what we can do to help each other out.

All of this has helped me realize that I have a lot of small goals that I was doing absolutely nothing to accomplish. They are important to me, but it does not appear that way when you look at my schedule. I’m hoping to change this.

If you have realized the same thing, especially if you are a couple of steps ahead of me in putting those goals into action, please comment! I’d love to hear what you’ve done.

FU H2

http://www.fuh2.com/index.php

Note: This above link is not a site to view with children! Especially those who can read!

It is a site that encourages you to take pictures of yourself flipping off a Hummer H2 due to the many negative things the H2 contributes to our environment and the safety of other cars. I think it is hilarious, but I have that kind of sense of humor (right, Rebecca?)

I also think it is hilarious that they refer to it as an “urban assult vehicle” ))

The H2 is a death machine. You’d better hope that you don’t collide with an H2 in your economy car. You can kiss your *** goodbye thanks to the H2′s massive weight and raised bumpers. Too bad you couldn’t afford an urban assault vehicle of your own. Or could you…?

And now for the page, in case you didn’t click the link in my post title. Some of the submissions are really funny.
http://www.fuh2.com/

Voluntary simplicity

Contrary to some reports, simplicity is not about deprivation. Those practicing simplicity in North America typically are quite comfortable by global standards. They only thing they’ve given up is the unnecessary and unsatisfying excess that is common in America. In exchange, they receive the luxury of time, peace of mind, and happiness. – Marie Sherlock Living Simply With Children

I’ve never been that simple of a girl. Actually, I’ve always been a bit more of a material girl. I’ve been feeling led to change this though. All of the sudden I am having living-off-the-grid dreams. Its crazy.

I went to the library and checked out a few books on Voluntary Simplicity (I figured that it wouldn’t be very simple of me to purchase them!) I’m really enjoying what I’m learning.

We’ve already had a few family meetings about things that we can do as a family to simplify our life. We’ve talked about the goals that are truly important to us and what we can do to trim down the parts of our life that aren’t advancing us towards those goals. Its amazing to see how much of my time has been wasted on things that do not further my goals AT ALL. There are things that I feel that God is guiding me to, and yet I was spending my time in areas that were completely unrelated.

So dh has really jumped on board, and we are finally working on a project that not only furthers our goals, but also allows us more time together. Its really, really cool.

For the kids, we are working on reducing television and increasing family game times. I don’t mean board games, although we’ve done that too, but I just mean getting down and playing with them in any way they want. Its been a great reminder of how much I want to spend time with my children and grow in relationship with them. I don’t have a goal for them to know every song that Dora sings P

Anyways, I wanted to go ahead and add a blog category for Voluntary Simplicity. I’ll probably put in a couple of entries from the books that I’m reading because it has given me a lot to think about. I don’t think I’ll be throwing away my Treo or my SUV anytime soon, but the little changes are already making a huge difference.

Profile pic

Well, I decided to add a profile pic. This one was my close runner-up ) Maybe I’ll switch it out later. They both showcase my features that I used to think made me look too ethnic… too Jewish… not all-American enough P I’ve since changed my opinion ;)