June Goals and May Goal Review

May came and went pretty quickly, which I feel is the theme of this whole year thus far! A few highlights from May include:

* Visiting my in-laws in Houston to celebrate Mother's Day
* Family reunion with (almost) all the in-laws in Waco, TX. We got to visit the Magnolia Market (Silo's), best known from HGTV's Fixer Upper!
* I started working on a novel that centers around the ideas of In Every Season series!
* Read 10 books (see my reviews HERE)
* Wrote about my struggle with anxiety even though I was terrified to share this part of my life so publicly. See the post HERE.

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Review of May Goals

SPIRITUAL GOALS:

(1) Practice lectio divina once a week with a Psalm --- YES! I WROTE ABOUT IT HERE

(2) Stay on track with my Bible Reading Plan to read the whole Bible by the end of the year. YES. I READ THROUGH THE MINOR PROPHETS AND JOB
(3) Review 7 Luke memory verses that I learned the past month with my flash cards --- NOPE!

(4) Bible journal atleast twice to help me process what I am learning through my Bible reading and lectio divina.  YES! I DID THIS ALONG WITH THE WEEKLY LECTIO DEVINA 

PHYSICAL/NUTRITIONAL GOALS:

(1) Increase milage to 3 miles by the end of the month --- I GOT TO 2.75MI. IT'S BEEN TAKING ME A LONG TIME TO BUILD BACK UP TO 3 MI, BUT I'M WORKING ON IT

(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). WORK IN PROGRESS. I COULD IMPROVE THIS A LOT, BUT HAVE MADE SOME CHANGES

INTELLECTUAL/LEARNING GOALS:

(1) Learn & start to practice speed reading (anyone have any good resources??) --- NOT YET

(2) Read atleast one book that's about writing novels as well as one book that I have already read years ago and loved. I READ TWO FAVORITES: LET ME BE A WOMAN AND THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. READ THEM (ALONG WITH MY OTHER MAY BOOKS) HERE.

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 --- I HAD TWO FRIENDS OVER THIS MONTH

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).  WE DID IT 2-3 TIMES IN THE PAST MONTH & IT HAS BEEN GREAT!

(2) Have a Saturday without any social events when we can just chill and enjoy being together  YES! WE HAD A LAZY DAY WHERE WE SNUGGLED, READ, AND DROVE OUT TO OUR FAVORITE BBQ SPOT. 

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.  WE DID THIS ABOUT 2 OR 3 OUT OF THE 4 TUESDAYS THIS MONTH

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). -- I WROTE TO TWO AUTHORS AND THEY WERE SWEET!

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June Goals

SPIRITUAL GOALS

(1) Memorize atleast one verse during weekly lectio divina this month and review/meditate on it all month

(2) Continue weekly Bible journaling to process what I am learning in my lectio divina of Psalms

(3) Stay on track with my daily Bible Reading Plan 

(4) Continue reading Living By the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible and practice the various methods of studying the Bible that we explore in our Bible study group

PHYSICAL/NUTRITIONAL GOALS

(1) Make a better effort this month to dramatically decrease dairy, gluten, and processed foods since this helped my GI issues and acne in April
(2) Bump up to 3 mile runs and continue using free weights for upper arms

LEARNING GOALS

(1) Re-read one book (halfway through The Secret Garden) along with reading new books

(2) Review common illnesses and treatments to prep  for upcoming new job as a PNP in a pediatric ER.

(3) Read or at least skim through a few books that are have themes, narrative structures, or similar plot as the story I am working on to get inspiration and to learn from the ways other authors write.

WRITING GOALS
(1) Write atleast 1 hour three times a week for my novel (!!!) and complete first draft of 3-4 chapters.
(2) Continue writing for the blog atleast once a week

SOCIAL GOALS
(1) Host a couple over for dinner
(2) Write to my Compassion Child (and remember to pray for her throughout the month)
(3) Have fun in Chicago at the end of the month, celebrating my brother's wedding! 

MARRIAGE GOALS
(1) Continue taking time on Sunday evenings to ask each other THESE questions to help reflect on our week and how we can be helping one another in the following week
(2) Find new ways to have quality time together, especially since June is gonna be a busy month!

FINANCIAL GOALS

(1) Continue weekly chats about our finances and looking over our expenses using YNAB

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What are some of your goals for June? Anything you're excited for?