De and Doug's Den: Reading and Movie Goals Update

Here is an update of how I'm doing on my "entertainment" goals so far this year!!!

List of twelve varied classics I want to read this year, hopefully completing one each month:

-- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

-- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

-- Anna Karenina

-- Arabian Nights

-- The Catcher in the Rye

-- Great Expectations

-- The Hunchback of Notre Dame

-- Jane Eyre

-- The Last of the Mohicans

-- Mere Christianity

-- The Poems of Emily Dickinson

-- The Three Musketeers

List of twelve classic movies:

-- An Affair to Remember

-- Casablanca

-- Dial M for Murder

-- The Godfather Trilogy

-- It Happened One Night

-- Kiss Me Kate

-- The Maltese Falcon

-- Mary Poppins

-- The Postman Always Rings Twice

-- Pretty in Pink

-- Strangers on a Train

-- Vertigo

Design: Weekly Goals (May 20-26)

What a crazy week!  I'm writing this goal post from my parents house in PA after a fun weekend celebrating my cousin's wedding, but I will be heading back to my home in VA soon ;)

May Goals
1.  Set up 1-2 more friends/family "dates" -- still working on this ;)
2.  Enjoy my cousin's wedding and time with family
3.  Play board games with Doug this week -- we watched movies instead, per his request

Housework/Errands
4.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!) -- no blog because there was no plan! Long story...
5.  Laundry and Packing for trip to PA

Personal
6.  Begin reading Arabian Nights
7.  Watch Pretty in Pink and It Happened One Night
8.  Rest and relax at home!!!

This week of being able to be at home and relax with no schoolwork was great!  Now that we've gotten some much deserved R & R, we are ready to begin organizing and packing for our move!!!  Even though we are only moving a few blocks to a bigger apartment, there is a lot of packing and decluttering to do so that we aren't overwhelmed with boxes (or piles of stuff) on moving day ;)

May Goals
1.  Correspond and catch-up with family/friends
2.  Spend quality time with Doug this week (playing games, going to a movie)

Housework/Errands
3.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!)
4.  Surface cleaning and decluttering

Moving Goals
5.  Clean Kitchen
6.  Laundry!  Sorted and stowed or bagged for charity/donations

Personal
7.  Begin reading Arabian Nights (!!!)
8.  Watch It Happened One Night

Design: Weekly Goals

Last week was a success because 1) Doug and I graduated with our Masters' degrees and 2) our house was clean enough to have company over!!!


May Goals/Personal
1.  Set up "date" times with 2-3 friends/family members -- one left to go!
2.  Watch Original Star Trek Movie with Doug
3.  Begin reading Arabian Nights

School/Homework
4.  Complete Psalms Reading and Exam
5.  Dance because I finished my Masters' Degree!!!

Housework/Errands
6.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!)
7.  Surface clean the apartment (for friends to be able to visit!)

This week is "transition week" in our house; we are taking the week off to relax and get ready for our new school-free schedules, as well as get some much needed rest before beginning to pack up our apartment to move in June!  Still, it's nice to have some goals ;)

May Goals
1.  Set up 1-2 more friends/family "dates"
2.  Enjoy my cousin's wedding and time with family
3.  Play board games with Doug this week

Housework/Errands
4.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!)
5.  Laundry and Packing for trip to PA

Personal
6.  Begin reading Arabian Nights
7.  Watch Pretty in Pink and It Happened One Night
8.  Rest and relax at home!!!

Design: Weekly Goals (May 7-12)

Oh my goodness, what a week!  Between lease signing, paper-writing, studying for a Final, and my little cousin's 5th birthday party, I have barely had a chance to breathe!


May Goals/Personal
1.  Set up "date" times with 3 friends and family members -- Only set up one (with my Gram) which was practically already set before I even began focusing on friends and family!  Still, I'm counting it.
2.  Go see Iron Man 3 with Doug this week

School/Homework
3.  Write and Submit my Psalms Analysis Paper
4.  Study for upcoming Greek Final (5/6)

Housework/Errands
5.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!)
6.  Begin decluttering/packing for our move to a new, bigger apartment ;) -- My dear husband put a stop to my decluttering and packing madness with a sweet reminder that we have SEVEN weeks until we move, but only ONE week until graduation.  He is so wise.

This week should be a bit easier and revert back to normal since I only have one Exam between me and graduation!  We will have some friends in town this weekend, so much needed cleaning is in order ;)

May Goals/Personal
1.  Set up "date" times with 2-3 friends/family members
2.  Watch Original Star Trek Movie with Doug
3.  Begin reading Arabian Nights

School/Homework
4.  Complete Psalms Reading and Exam
5.  Dance because I finished my Masters' Degree!!!

Housework/Errands
6.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!)
7.  Surface clean the apartment (for friends to be able to visit!)

Design: May Goals

May = Graduating with my MDiv, packing up my home in order to move, and celebrating my cousin's wedding!  Whew!

2013 Spring Goals
As I said last month, giving my time and focus to my friends and family can never truly be a checklist of goals, but must stem out of habitual change in my own life.  I tried to ease into things last month, but now I need to move things up a bit ;)

1.  Plan regular "dates" with friends and family members (even if they are Skype dates).
2.  Begin corresponding more with long-distance friends and family.
3.  Go out of my way to do something fun with Doug each week. (He's a quality time guy.)

Other Goals
4.  Read the Poems of Emily Dickinson; read Arabian Nights
5.  Watch It Happened One Night, Pretty in Pink, and An Affair to Remember
6.  Complete all my schoolwork in order to GRADUATE!
7.  Have fun with friends and family at my cousin's wedding
8.  Begin packing for our move!

Document: April

April has been a blur.  Quite honestly, I barely remember most of what happened (apart from Melissa's Wedding, our quick Baltimore trip, and Leslie's Baby Shower)!!!  I know there was a lot of Psalms reading and Greek......

2013 Spring Goals
It has been so refreshing to be praying over my friends and family intentionally and working to make them a focused part of my life!  I have been able to reach out and connect with more friends and family this month, but I will be working to be more intentional about giving them focused time.

Other Goals
I finally finished Great Expectations, and ready to dig into Emily Dickinson and Arabian Nights!  (I just haven't been feeling Tom Sawyer-ish.)  Doug and I finally watched Dial M for Murder (which was really good), and It Happened One Night is next in our Netflix Queue.  Out of everything from April, celebrating Melissa's Wedding and Leslie's Shower, along with a small break to see some friends in DC and go to the Aquarium in Baltimore!  (Sorry no pictures; we thought we had lost our camera!)

Design: Weekly Goals (April 29 - May 5)

This has been a crazy week!  I'm a day behind because I got so caught up reading over the material from the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle I got yesterday!  So many of my favorite bloggers gathered together with other bloggers to put together a huge bundle of 97 eBooks and eCourses (along with some fun extras), and I just can't say no to books and knowledge!

Anyways, here how my goals from last week looked:

April Goals/Personal
1.  Maintain relationships with my friends and family
2.  Go out of my way to show love and respect to Doug this week

School/Homework
3.  Greek "mi" verbs
4.  Psalms Reading (100+ pages) and Essay (925-1200 words)

Housework/Errands
5.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!)
6.  Spring Cleaning:  Decluttering -- the task that keeps on giving ;)

This week, I start my May Goals (which will be posted in full tomorrow)!  I also have a big paper and a Final Exam to study for, making this week kinda hectic.  Oh, a signing a lease to move to a new apartment in a few weeks.  Crazy!!!

May Goals/Personal
1.  Set up "date" times with 3 friends and family members
2.  Go see Iron Man 3 with Doug this week

School/Homework
3.  Write and Submit my Psalms Analysis Paper
4.  Study for upcoming Greek Final (5/6)

Housework/Errands
5.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!)
6.  Begin decluttering/packing for our move to a new, bigger apartment ;)

Design: Weekly Goals (Apr 22-28)

This week has felt so long even though it was a short week for us!  I think I accomplished quite a bit ;)


April Goals/Personal
1.  Go out of my way to demonstrate love to Doug, one friend, and one family member this week
2.  Finish Great Expectations

School/Homework
3.  Greek Infinitives and Imperatives
4.  Psalms Reading (100+ pages) and Book Review (1200-1500 words)

Housework/Errands
5.  Menu Plan (and blog!)
6.  Spring Cleaning:  Floors and Decluttering

Well, I have 18 days of my Master's degree left, and only 4 Greek classes!  I can't believe that I will have my M.Div in just over two weeks!  It's crunch time ;)

April Goals/Personal
1.  Maintain relationships with my friends and family
2.  Go out of my way to show love and respect to Doug this week

School/Homework
3.  Greek "mi" verbs
4.  Psalms Reading (100+ pages) and Essay (925-1200 words)

Housework/Errands
5.  Grocery Shopping/Menu Plan (and blog!)
6.  Spring Cleaning:  Decluttering

Design: Weekly Goals (Apr 16-21)

I'm off to a bit of a late start this week due to our trip to Chesapeake and Inner Harbor over the last few days!  We "lost" of camera after the wedding and did not find it until we were on our way home, so no pictures!  Still we had a great time ;)  Luckily, I completed most of my goals before our trip.

April Goals/Personal
1.  Connect with three friends/family members this week
2.  Show love and respect to Doug daily
3.  Enjoy Liss's Wedding (and our excursion trip)
4.  Watch Dial M for Murder; Finish Great Expectations

School/Homework
5.  Greek Infinitive Verbs
6.  Psalms Reading (~200 pages) and Quiz/Test

Housework/Errands
7.  Grocery Shopping, Menu Plan (and blog!)
8.  Spring Cleaning:  Kitchen

Since this week is short, I really need to focus on school and keeping up my health/daily habits.  Only 25 days until I complete my Masters' degree!!!

April Goals/Personal
1.  Go out of my way to demonstrate love to Doug, one friend, and one family member this week
2.  Finish Great Expectations

School/Homework
3.  Greek Infinitives and Imperatives
4.  Psalms Reading (100+ pages) and Book Review (1200-1500 words)

Housework/Errands
5.  Menu Plan (and blog!)
6.  Spring Cleaning:  Floors and Decluttering

Design: Weekly Goals (Apr 8-14)

For someone who still thinks it's February, it surprises me d a i l y that we are in our second week of March April!  We had a freak snow storm earlier this week, but today is warm and sunny!  I may never get comfortable with Virginia springtime ;)

Even with the weird weather, I think I did quite well on my goals for last week:


April Goals/Personal
1.  Make a friends and family prayer list to pray over this week
2.  Show love and respect to Doug daily
3.  Finish making gift for my friend Leslie's Baby Shower
4.  Watch Dial M for Murder -- foiled again!

School/Homework
5.  Begin Greek non-Indicative Verbs
6.  Psalms Reading (100+ pages) and Essay (925-1500 words total) -- I'm a bit behind on my reading

Housework/Errands
7.  Menu Plan (and blog!)
8.  Begin Spring Cleaning (Living Room and Guest Room)

Bonus:  Maintain my "daily priorities" for eating, exercise, and sleep

This week I need to kick things into high gear; I only have a month left of school!  Now is the time to buckle down and put in the hard work so that Finals aren't as stressful.  Another reason to work hard this week is so that I can take full advantage of the long weekend Doug and I have planned in Chesapeake and Baltimore's Inner Harbor ;)

April Goals/Personal
1.  Connect with three friends/family members this week
2.  Show love and respect to Doug daily
3.  Enjoy Liss's Wedding (and our excursion trip)
4.  Watch Dial M for Murder; Finish Great Expectations

School/Homework
5.  Greek Infinitive Verbs
6.  Psalms Reading (~200 pages) and Quiz/Test

Housework/Errands
7.  Grocery Shopping, Menu Plan (and blog!)
8.  Spring Cleaning:  Kitchen

Design: Weekly Goals (Apr 1-7)

I really cannot believe that April is here!!!  Thanks to a snow in late March, it truly feels like I time-warped from January to April.

Anyways!  A new month means a new set of goals!  (You can read about how March ended here.)

April Goals/Personal
1.  Make a friends and family prayer list to pray over this week
2.  Show love and respect to Doug daily
3.  Finish making gift for my friend Leslie's Baby Shower
4.  Watch Dial M for Murder

School/Homework
5.  Begin Greek non-Indicative Verbs
6.  Psalms Reading (100+ pages) and Essay (925-1500 words total)

Housework/Errands
7.  Menu Plan (and blog!)
8.  Begin Spring Cleaning (Living Room and Guest Room)

Bonus:  Maintain my "daily priorities" for eating, exercise, and sleep

Design: April

Spring has sprung!!!  April is here, which means more sunshine and showers, but less time until school ends!

2013 Spring Goals
Since I want to build my relationships with Doug, our families, and our friends, it is difficult to make a checklist of goals!  I think the best thing I can do is begin habits in my own life to make me a better friend and communicator, though I am starting slowly ;)

1.  Make a Prayer List for my friends and family; pray over it daily
2.  Make it a point to reach out to a handful of family and friends
3.  Do something to show love and respect to my husband every day

Other Goals
4.  Finish Great Expectations; read the Poems of Emily Dickinson; begin Tom Sawyer
5.  Watch Dial M for Murder, It Happened One Night, and An Affair to Remember
6.  Celebrate at my friend Leslie's Baby Shower and my friend Melissa's Wedding
7.  Enjoy a long weekend in Baltimore with Doug

Design: Weekly Goals (Mar 25-31)

The first week of a new class always seems crazier and busier than other weeks somehow.  A flat tire at 1 AM and a touch of the flu made it seem even worse!  My weekly goals from last week helped to keep me on track during an otherwise hectic week.


March Goals
1.  Fulfill daily priorities
2.  Read a Proverb a Day

School/Homework
3.  Greek Adjectival and Perfect Participles
4.  Psalms Reading (~100 pages) and Quiz

Housework/Errands
5.  Begin Spring Cleaning! -- the 4-6 inches of snow outside say "no Spring for you!"
6.  Menu Plan (and blog!)

Personal
7.  Watch Dial M for Murder -- The movie still alludes me
8.  Begin reading Great Expectations

This week officially ends March (oh my!) and hopefully all of its madness will end as well, leaving us with a stress-free Spring!  Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish:

March Goals
1.  Fulfill daily priorities
2.  Read a Proverb a Day

School/Homework
3.  Greek Exam (Friday)
4.  Psalms Reading (50-70 pgs) and Essay (925-1500 words total)

Housework/Errands
5.  Grocery Shopping and Menu Plan (and blog!)
6.  Set up Spring Cleaning Plan

Personal
7.  Watch Dial M for Murder (!!!)
8.  Read Great Expectations

Design: Weekly Goals (Mar 18-24)

Even though last week was a "short" week, I got a few things done ;)  Doug and I spent half of our Thursday helping his sister's family move, so I made sure to get some rest and relaxation over the weekend since it was Spring Break!


March Goals
1.  Fulfill my daily priorities
2.  Read a Proverb a Day

School/Homework
3.  Review Greek Adjectival Participles
4.  Prepare (and work ahead) in my new class, Psalms -- Decided to rest ;)

Housework/Errands
5.  Laundry from PA trip
6.  Begin Spring Cleaning -- Still working on getting organized to clean!

Personal
7.  Book a Massage ;)
8.  Watch Dial M for Murder -- Alas, I keep forgetting I have this movie to watch


This week not only marks the second half of this semester of Greek, but also begins my new (and FINAL) class, Psalms.  Not to mention the fact that Spring is on its way, bringing sunshine and warm weather!!!

March Goals
1.  Fulfill daily priorities
2.  Read a Proverb a Day

School/Homework
3.  Greek Adjectival and Perfect Participles
4.  Psalms Reading (~100 pages) and Quiz

Housework/Errands
5.  Begin Spring Cleaning!
6.  Menu Plan (and blog!)

Personal
7.  Watch Dial M for Murder
8.  Begin reading Great Expectations

Design: Weekly Goals (Mar 14-17)

So, four days isn't exactly a week, but since I accomplished my March Goals of resting during Spring Break and enjoying our trip to see my family in PA earlier his week, I feel accomplished enough to just skip those days!!!

Anyways, here's last week's results:

March Goals
1.  Fulfill my "Daily Priorities" (eating Breakfast, earlier sleep, exercise)
2.  Read a Proverb a Day

School/Homework
3.  Greek Aorist/Undefined Participles
4.  Finish DSMN class

Housework/Errands
5.  Menu Plan, Grocery Shopping, and blog!
6.  Catch up Laundry/Packing for PA

Personal
7.  Book a Massage ;) -- Called, but had to leave a message; hoping to book for next week!
8.  Have some Personal Time Daily

And my goals for this week:
March Goals
1.  Fulfill my daily priorities
2.  Read a Proverb a Day

School/Homework
3.  Review Greek Adjectival Participles
4.  Prepare (and work ahead) in my new class, Psalms

Housework/Errands
5.  Laundry from PA trip
6.  Begin Spring Cleaning

Personal
7.  Book a Massage ;)
8.  Watch Dial M for Murder

Design: Weekly Goals (Mar 4-10)

After taking some time off due to sickness, I am back and ready to set some weekly goals!

March Goals
1.  Fulfill my "Daily Priorities" (eating Breakfast, earlier sleep, exercise)
2.  Read a Proverb a Day

School/Homework
3.  Greek Aorist/Undefined Participles
4.  Finish DSMN class

Housework/Errands
5.  Menu Plan, Grocery Shopping, and blog!
6.  Catch up Laundry/Packing for PA

Personal
7.  Book a Massage ;)
8.  Have some Personal Time Daily

Design: March

March comes in like a lion!  In my case, that means abruptly!  Still, I am really hoping to make the most of this month ;)

2013 Winter Goals
1.  Eat Breakfast 5 days per week
2.  Continue stretching each morning, adding yoga moves/poses each week
3.  Make exercise a priority by having 45-60 minutes of activity per day
4.  To encourage an earlier bed time, institute a technology "black-out" each night at 11 PM
5.  Drink at least 8 cups of water per day

Other Goals
6.  Read Great Expectations and the Poems of Emily Dickinson
7.  Watch Dial M for Murder and It Happened One Night
8.  Enjoy our trip to PA
9.  Take advantage of Spring Break (i.e. Rest!)
10.  Read through Proverbs (one a day)

Document: February

I honestly cannot believe it is March.  March, as in the third month of the year, the beginning of Spring, and the season of mid-terms.  February seems like a blur (probably due to the two weeks I spent on DayQuil and NyQuil), but I'm sure I accomplished something.

2013 Winter Goals
After my improvements in January, I definitely took a step back this month.  Once again breakfast became a thing of the past, but I was able to eat Breakfast at least once per week, which is still a marked improvement from the beginning of the year.

The first two weeks of the month I did very well with my other goals (going to bed earlier and waking earlier, stretching and Yoga, and making it to the gym), however the "week of many appointments" became my downfall as the sickness took over.  Coughing and sputtering are not conducive to cardio at the gym, and sleep came at varied times for varied lengths.  Needless to say, I will be learning to take better care of myself using the "two steps forward, one step back" method.

Other Goals
I finally finished Jane Eyre!  I think every book has a "threshold" moment that draws you in, and once you cross it, the book instantly becomes irresistible.  I wasn't able to read through Dickinson's poems, but I did find a copy on my Nook to read in an upcoming month.  Likewise, Dial M for Murder has been sitting in its Netflix sleeve for the last two weeks!  I'm hoping I will finally get around to watching it this weekend.

I believe I have finished my Home Management Binder (as well as our Financial Binder), but there is still room to grow as we continue to use it.  Valentine's Day was really fun; it was one of my last "healthy" days for the month, so we were able to make the most of it.  Finally, Doug's birthday this past weekend was fairly successful even though I wasn't able to do all I had hoped.  Still, Doug said it was one of his favorite birthdays ever, so I'll score that as a win ;)

Moving Forward
For March, I will continue to find ways to take care of myself!  I really am hoping to tackle my eating habits, especially having breakfast in the morning.  Doug and I also have some time off school (Spring Break!), and we are planning on visiting my family in PA!  We haven't been able to drive up to PA for about a year, so this trip is really exciting and special for me.  Of course Spring Break means the end of one class and the beginning of another...

Design: Weekly Goals (Feb 10-16)

I can't believe it is already Valentine's Week!  February is one of those months that always seems to fly by too quickly, but I want to make sure I have something to show for the month and this week!

February Goals
1.  Add Yoga to my morning stretching routine
2.  Wake up each morning by 9 AM

School/Homework
3.  Learn Greek Perfect Verbs
4.  Complete Bible Lesson by Wednesday

Housework/Errands
5.  Menu Plan (and blog!)
6.  Clean out Linen Closet
7.  Clean up Laundry Area in our Bedroom

Personal
8.  Make it back to the Gym
9.  Enjoy Valentine's Day ;)

Determination: February Goals (Week 1)

I can't believe we are well into February; it still feels like January to me!  Here's what my weekly goals look like:


February Goals
1.  Add Yoga to my morning routine twice this week -- only once
2.  Wake up each morning by 9 AM -- I was slightly sick for a few days :(

School/Homework
3.  Study Greek Vocabulary and Verb Endings
4.  Complete both Bible Lessons by Saturday -- only one lesson

Housework/Errands
5.  Menu Plan and Grocery Shopping (and Blog!)
6.  Clean and Organize the Bathroom and Linen Closet -- sickness foiled me again

Personal
7.  Make it to the Gym 4 times this week -- evil sickness
8.  Take one day off this week for personal time

As for my February Goals, I have made some progress!

I made progress in each of my Winter Goals (eating breakfast, exercising, get enough sleep and rest)

I am still reading Jane Eyre, but I am more than halfway through!  Dial M for Murder came this week, and I am excited to watch it this week.