Spiritual Goal Update

I originally was thinking I'd read my grandmother's Bible this year and then I'd be able to see her notes and favorite verses.  But that ended up not working so well. Her Bible was so well loved that it is falling apart and since I usually read just before I go to sleep at night in bed, it wasn't working well. I was afraid it would make the Bible worse. So I decided to change my goal.

My new goal is to still read the Bible in a year, but this time I'm going to use a Chronological reading plan.

I downloaded the YouVerson Bible app from Google Play Store (or you can get it from the Apple App Store) and checked out the reading plans available through it.  I like that it marks off chapters as I read them. So if I get tired and stop early some night I can catch up the next.  I was first introduced to this app when I was looking for a Bible app for my daughter that allowed her to download the full text of a kid friendly translation of the Bible. A friend suggest this and that's what we ended up going with.  One drawback if you're installing it on your child's device though is that there is a social networking aspect of it. So to address that I hooked it up to MY email address so I'd be the ones getting the notifications.  If you're an adult, it can be a nice way to connect with friends though.

The Plan that I have picked is called As it Happened. You can read it on their website too.  So far I'm enjoying it.  I haven't looked ahead to see how some of the various books are broken up yet, but I will be curious to see that.

One other nice thing about this app is it adjusts based on when you start reading. I started on the 4th, so that was when I read the first day's reading. But I really wanted to go to the calendar year, so I caught myself up by reading more a few days and I was able to reset the app so that it showed the next day's reading correctly.

I highly recommend checking it out if you are looking for a Bible app!

Meal Plan for Jan 7-13

Sorry, this is a bit late, since it's already Tuesday!

Here is this week's meal plan:

Sunday: Mediterranean Meatballs (made with lean beef)
Monday: Chicken Pot Pie (I used Organic Whole Wheat pie crust instead of the Phyllo dough)
Tuesday: Cheesy Sausage and Spinach Pasta
Wednesday: Lumberjack stew (we'll use beef instead of pork)
Thursday: Meatball sandwiches (my daughter is cooking)
Friday: Laotian Beef and Eggs
Saturday: We're going to an event for dinner

I've been experimenting this week with putting the menu in a Google Calendar so my family can all access and and I'll have the links right there.  So far it's working alright but it means that I need to look at my phone or computer when I'm in the kitchen cleaning up from tonight's dinner and wondering what I need to prep for tomorrow night.  Do you meal plan? How do you keep track of your meals?

Have a great week everyone!

Meal Plan: Jan 1-6

My meal plan for this week isn't exactly healthy. I'll improve on that :)

Sunday	Ribs
Monday	Fondue using this dip minus the peppers
Tuesday	Deep Dish Pizza
Wednesday	Leftover Pork
Thursday	Drunken Noodles
Friday	Sloppy Joes
Saturday	Undecided

Most of the time I will have frozen veggies with the meals. I usually let one of my daughters pick out what we're going to have and go get it from the freezer while I'm cooking.  We tend to choose the ones that you can microwave in the bag.

For lunches, I'll be doing leftovers and I have a few of the healthier frozen burritos.  For breakfasts I will have a protein shake.

New Year, New Goals

It's been a while, but I thought I'd start this year off with a few goals.  Rather than five this time though, I'm going to do four.  I'm eliminating the financial one for now, mostly because one isn't coming to mind at the moment.

So, here are my goals:

Personal Goal

I would like to do scrum master training with the goal of getting a certification.

Family Goal

This year, I want to be deliberate about spending time with my husband.  I'm aiming for a date night each month with just the two of this.  I've aided this by giving him gift cards for Christmas that we can use for dinners.

Fitness Goal

I'm happy to report that I've made progress on my weight loss goal.  If you remember, I started at 224, and my goal was 200.  That was 5 years ago.  In that time I gained even more weight, but now I'm down to 195 (if you count the 10 I've gained since Thanksgiving!).  But, I would like to loose more, so this year I'd like to loose another 20 pounds.  This is probably where you'll see me focus most of my posts.  I'll share some recipes and my meal plans.

Spiritual Goal

My Spiritual Goal for this year will be to read the Bible again, but this time I'm going to pick a different translation.  My Grandmother passed away last year and I may choose one of her Bibles to read.  I'll let you know what I decide.