Anxiously Engaged: The List

I've decided to borrow an idea from Amy at Increasingly Domestic and use Wednesdays as my "word" day, to update how I'm doing with my one(ish) little word for the year. Hopefully this will keep me going strong all year!

And I'm also still doing Wednesdays on (and off) the Web over at Housewife Eclectic. This year I'm adding in more fun and good things on and off the web, so it's not just online tips anymore. :) Come on over! Today we're exfoliating digitally...

When I introduced my word(s) for 2012, I told you that I set a LOT of goals. That is true. Most of my goals this year are residual from my before-25 list that I made on my last birthday, but I've added a few more and divided them up into 5 categories: to be anxiously engaged in...

living a healthy(er) life

growing spiritually

using my brain more

developing relationships

doing new and fun things

So, if you really want to know the nitty gritty of what my goals are... read on. :)

I confess... it's good to be back!

I confess that it's good to be back to blogging, even in small doses like I have been. :)
 
I confess that, last week, I curled my eyelashes for the first time in my life. I'm still partly convinced that the eyelash curler was first created as a form of medieval torture, but I do like the improvement in my lashes.

image source

I confess that I've gotten my kids to nap at the same time THREE days this week and that makes me feel like Wonder Woman. Of course, I spend most of that hour of both kids being asleep on Pinterest, but, hey, Wonder Woman's gotta do what WonderWoman's gotta do. And Wonder Woman's gotta pin.

I confess that I am having a lot of fun getting rid of 50 things, but that I refuse to touch my craft supplies as part of the dejunking process.

I confess that the universe is working against me -- as I get rid of things, new things keep showing up. First my recently retired dad handed down a bunch of neckties to my husband, and then this showed up:

It's a corner shelf (the bottom part of this piece by Ana White) that the young men from our church built for us as part of their scouting program. Now I just have to decide how to finish it. What do you think -- wood stain or paint?

I confess that all of these things showing up would bother me more if I didn't love getting new things... :)

Have a great weekend!

An exfoliation of stuff

Hi friends! I'm over at Housewife Eclectic today issuing a challenge: get rid of 50 things. Come on over to get the details about why and how.

Thanks for reading!

Anxiously Engaged

I'm back! It's been far too long, and I have missed you all so much. Thanks for sticking with me, friends!

Are you familiar with Ali Edwards' one little word idea?

(You can read more about it here. I'm not familiar with the class that she offers there, so I'm not endorsing that, or her, or anything. I just like the concept. :)

The idea is to select one word to guide your life for the year, to "focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon" as you go about whatever else is going on in your life.

I prefer to think of it as my rallying cry, the energy behind all of the other goals that I make for myself in a year.

Because I set a LOT of goals.

But we'll get to those in a minute. First, my word. Actually, it's two words. I'm a rule-bender that way. :)

For 2012, I am striving to be

anxiously engaged.

Nope, it's not a sob coming from a desperate-to-be-married single girl (or guy). :) It's a scripture:

27 Verily I say, men should be ^aanxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness (Doctrine and Covenants 58:27)

image source

I look over the things that I do in a day and I think, Wow. I am seriously unproductive. And I'm not setting the productivity bar very high, trust me.

So, for 2012, I'm working on being anxiously engaged in a good cause. Emphasis on the engagement, not on the anxiety. :)

I want to be 

engaged in loving my kids

engaged in cherishing my husband

engaged in living a healthy life

engaged in enjoying the day-to-day awesomeness

engaged in doing the things I need to do and not just the things I want to do

As I mentioned, this one word (ish) is my rallying point for my other goals this year. I'm sharing one goal over at Housewife Eclectic today as part of the new year of Wednesdays on (and off) the Web. The rest of my list will have to wait because, hallelujah, both of my sick and cranky kids are asleep at the same time, and I have better causes to be engaged in than boring all of you with my list of ways to become the perfect Lu...

Instead, tell me... what are your goals? or your one word?