GYM.

I've been lacking on posting pictures, but honestly nothing has been photo-worthy as of late.

Some exciting news: Brett and I signed up for our first gym membership! His work provides a free membership to employees and their family's to any gym in the city. We chose a gym that's only 5 minutes away. I'm excited to get in shape and go to some Zumba and Yoga classes, but I get embarrassed thinking about working out in front of those gym rats. I think I look awkward in a gym.

Anyway, we are only 7 months late on getting started with our New Year's goal, but hey, better late than never.

FARM CITY.

I'm reading a book called Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. So far I've loved it. This woman lives in Oakland, CA in a small apartment along the urban streets. Behind her complex lies an empty lot which she turns into a garden and home for her dozens of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys.

Random neighbors and homeless people benefit from this garden along with her apple, lemon, fig, and orange trees. I'm only a couple chapters in, but it's inspired me to live providently and find joy through work.

I totally want to plant fruit trees and expand my garden. I feel like we live in a lazy world now-a-days, and I want my children to participate in fun work. What better way than to make a mini urban farm?

PENMANSHIP.

I'm really sad that my handwriting looks like that of a five-year-old boy. And what's worse, my cursive is chicken scratch. I bet my children won't even be taught cursive because everything is typed online now-a-days.

I was talking with this ninety-year-old lady who showed me her old letters she and her husband exchange back in 1940 when he was in the Navy. Her penmanship was as beautiful as the memory those letters contain.

I want to have better handwriting, and stop embarrassing myself every time I write on the chalkboard during Sunday School.

WATER GOAL.

I know I should do better at drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Here is my motivation. Anything with a checklist is bound to get me going.

50 THINGS.

I flipped through my journal the other day and stumbled upon some goals I had set back in December.

I'm surprised because I've actually done some of these things; then again, there are a few numbers I could be doing better at (ahem, #35, #47, #7, #13 . . . shall I go on?)

Either way, I really love goals. I feel like I'm growing as a person when I set them and accomplish them. Since graduating I've found it important for me to be a life-long learner and I know that goals can help me gain the knowledge I'm seeking.

I realize my handwriting could possibly be confused with a 5-year-old boy. I'll add penmanship to the list.

THANKS, SQUEEGEE.

Our shower consists of glass doors that need to be regularly cleaned (and by regular I mean they need to be cleaned every time the shower is used . . . this mere fact may or may not mean I shower less often . . .)

If I don't make a conscious effort to squeegee/spray the doors, scum builds up pretty quickly. Every day it's a battle: To spray, or not to spray. The squeegee gets a quick glance, then a cold shoulder as I turn my back without a second thought.

It's become a bad habit, and you may be wondering why I'm even talking about this. But today it got me thinking. Once again I glanced at the squeegee, but this time I decided to actually spray down the doors.

And wow, it took me a whole 30 seconds to get the job done.

The point is: I have become lazy.

My laziness is so ridiculous that I shudder to do a mindless and quick routine task. And it goes beyond the squeegee--it happens when I look at the floss, or when I see an overflowing trashcan, or when I put my baby to bed without reading her a story.

Because of the squeegee, I have self-examined myself and realized a change must be made. The little things in life are the easiest to overlook, but most often the most important.

Not to say I'm a horrible person because I don't take out the trash immediately, but my laziness has seeped into the important areas in my life--like motherhood.

So today when I grabbed that squeegee and cleaned those doors like never before, I vowed to be my best self and emphasize the little things in life.