June Report (And Half Way Report)

We have reached the half way mark in the year, so it is a great time to take stock in what we have accomplished so far.   In addition to the goals I made, I'm feeling pretty good about some other things that have been accomplished this year.   I have been more creative than ever in my life.   Mike and I have renovated our bathroom and kitchen and redecorated several other rooms.  I have become quite crafty at the age of 50 :). One of my secret joys is that some of my stuff has been re-pinned on pinterest.  I didn't make any goals on that...but just had to brag a little bit :).  

Wisdom:  
1. Read 100 Books in 2014  I have read 42 books so far this year   Check them out on pinterest!  http://www.pinterest.com/kathywood1/read-100-books-in-2014/ I am at the 6 month mark for the year, so I should be at 50 books by this time so I am a little behind schedule.   

2. Brain Training Games on Kindle J.  Hey! Goals can be fun J.  I continue to play Words With Friends.  Thanks for those who responded and started a game with me!   If anyone else wants to play I am ksw1963.  I am still stuck on level 86 on Candy Crush, but I am not playing that as often.   I still play 7 Little Words. My sister turned me on to a new word game called Ruzzle (like Boggle) which is a lot of fun even though I am not very good at it.  Something about putting me on a timer makes my brain stop working.   If you want to play me in that I am ksw1963 in that one too.  6 months in...still fun...still playing...still thinking...Success :)!  

 
Stature: 

1. Lose any amount of weight.  I have lost 5 lbs this month and am down 29 pounds for the year and down 58 lbs since last September.  6 months into this year and I am pretty happy with that.     

2.  Beat my 2013 step average/day (6828 steps/day)  In June, I averaged 10,618 steps/day.   I have averaged 7780 steps for the year so far.  Another accomplishment for this month is that some of those steps are jogging steps. Yesterday I jogged for 20 minutes straight on the treadmill.   6 months in and I am meeting my goal of beating last years averages. 

Spiritual: 

1. Read through the New Testament  I am on track and being much more consistent this month with doing it daily.   6 months in..on track and successful.

2. Come up with a system to pray intentionally for people (prayer journal) and then do it.

I have been pretty consistent with praying and writing in my journal this month.   6 months in and I am more consistent than ever with this, but still not writing in the journal every day.   I am intentionally praying for people in my life...so I'm going to call it success.    

3.  Continue to make progress on writing the scripture in my own hand.  

   I am working on writing 1 Thessalonians in conjunction with a Bible Study I am doing, but I am not done with it yet. I have also memorized 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.    In addition to last years books(Genesis, James, Nehemiah, Proverbs, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Habakuk, Obadiah,  Titus, Jude,   Hosea, and 1 John), this year I have written Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and 3 chapters of 1 Thessalonians.  6 months in and I am making progress...so success!  

Social:

1.  Make lunch dates 1/month with one of the ladies from the church with the intent of building a relationship.  

I asked someone, but we weren't able to make it work.   I did have lunch with other friends.  I am wishing that I hadn't specified (from the church) because I am making progress in this with other ladies....and in a non-lunch format I have been developing relationships with the ladies at church.  So in the spirit of it, I am having success.   :).
2. Entertain in my own home 1/month.   

I started a ladies Bible Study in my home on Thursday nights.  The first night I cooked dinner for them.  I also had a girlfriend from the church over on another day.  My in-laws came for a visit and my daughter's boyfriend and Dad came over to meet them and my parents.  Lots of entertainment this month.   6 months in, and I'm feeling pretty good about this goal.  

Dream:

1.  Save money for a trip to Israel.  Research and plan the trip.  So far I have saved $611 towards my plane ticket which is a little short of the $690 goal for this point in the year. I called and got myself on the mailing list for information about the trip; however, I guess they are still in the decision making process, because I haven't gotten any information.  They cancelled their Fall trip, so I probably should be looking at alternatives just in case.  I am picking up my walking/running so that I won't have trouble keeping up with a group in the rugged terrain of Israel.  Tentative dates for the trip are March 16-28 2015. Tentative itinerary can be found here.  I am a little behind on this goal.  

I'm feeling pretty good about heading into this second half of the year.  It is tempting to change the goals or make them harder, but I am just going to stay the course because it seems to be working for me.  I just want to keep forward momentum, and not lose ground.