Previous Post Update #3

Word for 2012, Commit.  This is my progress on:

Healthy Eating/Menu Planning:

Now here is an area that I have been focusing on. 

If you've been reading, you will see that I have posted menus for the past 4 weeks and I have been trying to make healthier choices while doing so.  

I made a delicious Grilled Chicken Salad, a Ginger-Beef Stir Fry, Grilled Steelhead Trout , Vegetarian Chilli Cheese Nachos.  

I have also been making an effort to cut down on the potato chips and chocolate snacking!

AND

Strengthening and Maintaining Relationships:

This is a tough one for me. 

We moved to a new town in September of 2011.

We are about 1 ½ hours away from our old town and return there frequently to check on the house that we still own there. 

I have, on a couple of occasions met a friend for tea or lunch, but finding the time to spare and matching up schedules is a challenge. 

However, I have managed to send a few cards, letters and valentines , in my efforts to stay in touch. 

I am also encouraging and assisting my daughter to do the same. 

I moved and changed schools in grade 5 just like her and I know how important it can be to maintain those friendships that she has established since kindergarten.   I didn't and wish that I had.

The internet sure makes this an easier thing to do these days!

How goes your progress on accomplishing things you've commited to or on living your Word for 2012?

Previous Post Update #2

I've been making some claims and promises here to accomplish a few things. Time to honour accountability.

For my word for 2012, I chose Commit.

Go here for a list of the things I wanted to commit to.

And this is my progress on:  Practice.

I must say that I have been more dedicated to practising my guitar than ever before. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I received as a Christmas gift from my fabulous Fishguy, a beautiful new guitar.

That and well, I've actually been following through on my decision to Commit to Practice!

I am singing just about as much as always (in the shower, doing dishes, while practising guitar, in the car, hanging the laundry when I am at work...) and would like to take more voice lessons or join a singing ensemble.

However, my financial situation is preventing me from doing any such thing that costs money. I need to look into some alternatives. Or get a full-time job (sigh!).

Yoga, well, I just haven't been putting very much effort into this commitment, I must admit.

I mean I have been doing some yoga, here and there. 

I even taught a couple of workshops for kids in Feb and March. 

And sometimes in the evening when I'm puttering about the house, I just drop into a pose when the urge strikes me, depending on what feels tight and needs stretching.

But as far as a regular “practice” goes,

I think perhaps I need to try to start small, just 5-10 minutes in the morning.

Previous Post Updates #1

I've been making some claims and promises here to accomplish a few things.  Time to honour accountability.

For my word for 2012,  I chose Commit.

Go here for a list of the things I wanted to commit to.

And this is my progress on:  Happiness.

So, here we are nearing the end of March and I can definitely say that overall, I have been a happier person .

I find January and February to be such challenging months, both in maintaining emotional balance and functioning energy levels. However, with the practice of Julie Cameron's morning pages in January (issued as a challenge for the month by Jamie Ridler), I feel I gained a leg up on beating the winter blahs this year.

Of course, I still experience the odd "down days", just noticeably fewer of them!

Well, So Much For That!

This new beginning only mangaged three posts for the month of January, but it is afterall, a beginning. So I'm not about to beat myself up over it. In fact, I think I will celebrate the fact that I did indeed make three posts in the month of January. Goodness knows, I did an awful lot more than that in the other corners of my life in January. In fact I'm feeling inspired to.... make a list... (drum roll here).

In the month of January I have:

~started walking again! Most mornings, I walk my daughter to school (that only takes about 7 minutes at a leisurely pace). Then, instead of heading directly home, I take a new and different "long way home" which usually ends up being about a 20-30 minute brisk walk (as well as allowing me to become more familiar with our neighbourhood and the many lovely old century homes in the area-we just moved to this town in the summer of 2011)

~really been focusing on my word for the year by committing myself to daily guitar practice. Honestly, a minimum of 30 minutes each day is doing wonders for me. I mean, there have been days that I have skipped, but on the whole, if I can manage to pick it up for at least 30 minutes, I often end up playing for a lot longer than that or returning to it several times thorough out the day. I have several new songs that I can now play to show for it too!

~completed the Morning Pages Challenge from Jamie Ridler. This has been very satisfying. First of all, I love the routine of it. Since I haven't been working much since before Christmas, I need something to get me out of bed a little bit early and the Morning Pages have been my motivation. I have also loved having this little piece of the day in which my thoughts flow into words onto paper and I gain a sense of organization over my thoughts, needs, wants and desires. It gives me an opportunity to send a little message to the universe, a documentation that doesn't have to be a committment, simply a voicing of what is floating around in my head. Finally, it has provided me with the starting point for the rest of my day as I often make a list of my things to do within my morning pages. This has been extremely helpful in acheiving consistency in the two items mentioned above (walking and guitar).

~been working on menu plans and cooking yummy meals. Why, just the other day I made delicious cabbage rolls, something that for some stange reason, I have never made before. I also made a heavenly split pea soup with ham, which has always been one of my all time favourite meals. The meal planning is coming along, I get the ideas in my head for what I'd like to prepare; it's the actual putting it down onto paper part that is still in the development stage.
Perhaps that is something I can develop here on my blog! Oh I love the lightbulb moments!!

~begun to reacquaint myself with my yoga practice. In fact, yoga practice is next on my agenda after completing this post. Which, much as I'd love to write more about my relationship with yoga, I must postpone for another post as I need to get moving onto the actual practice of it and then guitar and then the dishes and the laundry and the rest of the TTD list for today.

And so, I think all in all, January was a pretty good month for me. Now here, three days into February, I am looking forward to even more of the same,but with more hearts and chocolate !!