Reboot Camp

Well my Mom, (TheCoolMom) & I are at it again. It must be something about the approach of spring, that puts a little extra drive in our hearts. Last year, we had the Pocket Challenge on February 13th. That was all about creating little pockets of beauty & organization. Now, one year & a day later, we’re kicking it up several notches. Last years challenge was about a month long. This years challenge is 10 weeks.

This year, we’ve reached the conclusion that we have lot we’d like to change. This is about the time of year, that you’ve begun to realize which New Years goals, just haven’t been done. Or maybe you have new ones. If you have your own set of changes you’d like to initiate, join us for Reboot Camp.

Reboot Camp starts today (Valentine’s Day), and runs to Easter. As my Mom puts it, it’s from one “love” holiday, to another.

My Mom & I each had different goals, because we have different situations. She has 7 children still at home, and she has to contend with the organizational issues that provides. She also has different creative bents, certain church commitments, and the homeschooling of 5 of those 7 children. I have 1 baby who’s getting all her teeth in at once, and a 5 year old that’s new to school. I’m new to teaching, so I have a learning process myself. I have a husband who may deploy at any time. The military is only required to give 24 hours notice. And last but not least, I’m expecting a child this year. (We don’t know the due date yet.)

Since I like how my Mom broke down her categories, I’m going to swipe them, since they work nicely with my goals as well.

Spiritual

• I’m going to start reading my Bible daily. Unfortunately with all the things on my to-do list, reading my Bible (and sometimes even prayer) have fallen to the wayside on many occasions. I tend to think of it as an “if I have time.” It’s time to reboot my priorities. Instead, I need to start my day with Bible reading & prayer, and I’ll get to the other things “if I have time.”
• I’m going to read some Christian books, that will boost me. I have a lot of spiritual battles that have had to be fought in the last year, and I have several more sneaking around the corner. I need to refresh myself from last years battles, and get empowered for this years battles. So far I’m slated to read Lisa Bevere’s Lioness Arising: Wake Up and Change Your World, Bill Johnson’s The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind: Access to a Life of Miracles, & Kris Vallotton’s Developing a Supernatural Lifestyle: A Practical Guide to a Life of Signs, Wonders, and Miracles.
• I need to dig into one of the numerous Bible studies I have. I have several lovely Bible studies from Beth Moore, but they were among the last things I received from my Grandmother before she passed, and I haven’t wanted to crack them open. But that’s not what she bought them for, and that’s not what she would want. So I’m going to actually start one of them.

Physical

• Be taking my vitamins daily. This was going to be an important addition to my routine, but with the pregnancy, it’s even more vital.
• Be drinking at least 8 glasses of water/juice a day. I’ve already drastically reduced my soda intake (from 4-5 cans a day to 1), but now I need to be replacing all that soda I was drinking, with water & juice. And if I can substitute sweet tea for soda, that will reduce my caloric intake from 100 calories per beverage, to about 35-40. Much better!
• To be working out at least 3x a week. I’d like to try out Zumba, but I’ll have to see how far into the pregnancy I can take that. Once it’s no longer safe, or is too exhausting, I’ll switch to prenatal Pilates.

Household

• Have a schedule worked out that will keep the household running, even if Gunlover’s deployed. The key for me, is finding a schedule locked down enough to keep me from running around like a nut, and laid-back enough to have flexibility for some of the challenges I face.
• Have the house organized, so that things are easily accessible, and the house is both child & pregnant woman friendly. And by pregnant woman friendly, I mean have the furniture arranged so that it’s less likely I’ll catch my big ol’ belly on it. Not that that’s ever happened.
• Be keeping up with Home Sanctuary. I have fallen so far. I haven’t kept up with this, since Bunny arrived last year. Oops.
• I want to get a shelf for one wall of our kitchen. And on that shelf I want to have clearly labeled homemade soup mixes, muffin mixes, bread mixes..whatever.  I want to make cooking easier, when I get further along in this pregnancy.
• I also want to have a cooking schedule set up, so I know the kind of food I’m cooking on what days, so there’s less thought involved. Anyone who’s ever been pregnant knows what it’s like when the preggo fog kicks in.

Creative

• I need to keep up with my blogs!!!
• I need to get crafting again. I used to do crafts back when I lived at home still, but I haven’t done much since I’ve been out on my own, and I miss it. It’s time to teach Jewel how much fun this can be.
• I want to get working on my music again. Gunlover found a notebook of mine with song lyrics in it. He had no idea that I used to write songs, because I haven’t written any songs in probably 5-6 years. He informed me, that needs to change. So I’m going to set aside time for myself to let the music start flowing through me again. I also want re-polish my vocal skills.

Other

• I have 2 businesses. One selling Avon, and the other one selling Beachbody fitness products. I haven’t put the time into either one, that I’d really like to. And consequently, I don’t have as much business as I’d like to. So I need to brainstorm ways to promote my business, even though I stay at home with the kids all day. On that note, would anyone like some makeup or fitness DVD’s?
• I have done almost nothing with my reading challenges, and believe me, I have a lot that I signed up for. I probably bit off more than I can chew again, but I need to at least be trying.
• I need to get more organized with my homeschooling. It’s such a different ballgame from being taught, to actually be doing the teaching. And I’ll admit, it’s been a bit overwhelming. My Mom did such a great job teaching us, and I want to live up to that!
• And lastly, this may seem silly, but I need to have some quality ways for relaxing figured out. I’m a very stress oriented person, which is not what God made us to be. Now that I’m pregnant I really need to learn to take down time, and breathe. This will become doubly important if Gunlover deploys, because it will be all too tempting to just let the stress take over.

Alright, I know you’re inspired, and you’re saying, where do I sign up? Right! I’m so glad you asked. Just click on Reboot Camp and scroll down to the bottom of the post, and leave my Mom a comment to tell her you’re psyched about this challenge. Oh, and if you’d be so kind, leave me a comment too, just so I don’t feel left out.