May Goals (& April Goals Review)

Ah, April. You were good to me. I tried simplifying some of my goals and working on a few things that I especially was needing to tackle this month -- namely the Food Elimination Diet that I did all month to help me target different food sensitivities (more info below). I also celebrated my husband's birthday at the start of April and finished the month off with a surprise visit to see my family! Alas, May is here! It's quickly warming up here in the lone star state, and I am about to see what 'hot as Texas' really means in the next few months. But, for now, I am looking forward to the calm before the storm, or rather, the comfortably warm before the sweltering heat, as well as tackling a few more goals this month.

April Goals Review

SPIRITUAL GOAL:
(1) Review memory verses from Luke that I learned. (Made flash cards for the 7 verses and reviewed them a few times)

PHYSICAL/NUTRITIONAL GOALS: 

( 1) Complete the 4-5 week Food Elimination Diet so I can figure out what my body is sensitive to.  (Yes! I noticed my acne, energy, and overall GI health were drastically improved after eliminating gluten, all processed foods, dairy, soy, corn, and caffeine. Once I entered the re-introduction phase, where I added a food group every 3 days, I noticed all three of these git worse).

(2) Exercise 2x/week  (Yes! I am finally making some gains in my jogging distance and free weights)

INTELLECTUAL/LEARNING GOAL:

(1) Review old nursing coursework and journal articles to prepare for starting my new jobs  (This is a work in progress, but I have been trying to go through some of my old lessons to review)
(2) Read one book that I have read before that is already in my bookshelf along with 4-5 new books  (Yes! I read Let Me Be A Woman by Elisabeth Elliot along with reading 8 books. See my April book reviews HERE)

SOCIAL GOALS:

(1) Have a couple over for a homemade dinner and have intentional conversation with them and my husband. (I had a friend over for tea and dessert)
(2) Write to my Compassion Child
(3) Write 4 encouraging letters to friends

FINANCIAL GOAL:

(1) Work on budgeting with Greg, discussing finances (Yes! We have been intentionally working on budgeting on Tuesday nights this month! I am proud of us!)

FUN CHALLENGES/GOALS

(1) Two acts of kindness towards stranger

(2) Play my violin atleast twice
(I unfortunately didn't have time to do either of these this month & honestly forgot about the random acts of kindness goal until the last weekend of the month) 

7 Luke verses I'm trying to memorize; re-read one of my favorite books, Let Me Be A Woman;
had a friend over to catch-up over tea and GF shortbread cookies; did some exercising while
hiking on Greg's bday; Bible journaling while practicing lectio divina for Psalm 1; 
a delicious meal during my Food Elimination Diet; finally got around to starting a 
small indoor herb garden (a goal I've had for several years)
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May Goals

SPIRITUAL GOALS:

(1) Practice lectio divina once a week with a Psalm (Bible reading method widely practiced for centuries in Benedictine monasteries that focuses on meditating and praying through a Bible passage (4 steps: read, meditate, pray, contemplate). It will help me practice selah (pausing and praising God) during Bible reading time.

(2) Stay on track with my Bible Reading Plan to read the whole Bible by the end of the year.

(3) Bible journal atleast twice to help me process what I am learning through my Bible reading and lectio divina.

(4) Review 7 Luke memory verses that I learned the past month with my flash cards.

PHYSICAL/NUTRITIONAL GOALS:

(1) Increase milage to 3 miles by the end of the month

(2) Increase free weights (weight and frequency)

(3) Limit dairy, gluten, and processed food since these all have caused increased symptoms while on the Food Elimination Diet last month (and generally, all cause inflammation to some extent for everyone, so I should decrease the amount even if I had not had any noticeable symptoms).

INTELLECTUAL/LEARNING GOALS:

(1) Learn & start to practice speed reading (anyone have any good resources??)

(2) Read atleast one book that's about writing novels as well as one book that I have already read years ago and loved.

SOCIAL GOALS:

(1) Write to my Compassion Child

(2) Write and send three encouraging letters to friends 

(3) Host either a single friend or a couple to our apartment for dinner

MARRIAGE GOALS:

(1) Weekly discuss & journal answers to 6 intentional marriage questions  so that we can be making it a habit to be honest and open with each other. THIS article from Beating50Percent blog was an inspiration, as well as the book, A Severe Mercy (by Sheldon Vanauken). 

(2) Have a Saturday without any social events when we can just chill and enjoy being together

FINANCIAL GOALS:

(1) Continue discussing budgeting together after dinner on Tuesdays to check how we are doing with our financial goals. We made a lot of progress last month and had some great conversations about our short-term and long-term financial goals, so I want to keep the momentum going. 

FUN CHALLENGES:

(1) Write to 3 fiction authors whose books I like. Tell them what I love about their books and ask if they have any tips for new writers with little to no experience in writing fiction. It's a long shot, but maybe they might respond! (I'm counting this as my 2016 goal to do something brave that scares me).

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What are your goals for May? Any big gains or accomplishments in April?