Resolution Review

As the first quarter of the year is now finished, I thought this would be a good time to review the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year and see what progress has been made and which areas I need to focus on for the next few months. This will be a pretty boring post and is really for my benefit, so sorry for those of you who came here looking for brilliant entertainment. I will, however, end this post with the most recent Emma Episode of cuteness since those never get old, even if she does! Does any one know how to keep my little girl little?

My orignal goals can be seen at http://goodmanscorner.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-years-resolutions.html for those of you who are curious.

My physical goal of losing 30 pounds after my pregnancy has already been met (yay me!!) but I still don't fit into my favorite jeans very well, so my revised goal is to fit into them by my birthday. To do this, I have decided to forego the gym membership and get a bike since there are some cool biking and walking trails near our new place.

Attending the temple has been rough for Ross and me due to lack of babysitters with lengthy amounts of time to spare. We have gone at least once a month this year to do temple work, and we try to drive up there at least weekly with Emma to talk about our goals as a family. We are going to try and find some trustworthy young women in our new ward to help us make our real goal a reality. As for the Old Testament- I am almost through Genesis- not a great start, I know. I have however read the Book of Mormon twice already this year for the President Hinckley tribute, and I have memorized the Proclamation on the Family for my Family Relations course in sunday school. Not that those are good excuses to not meet my orginal goal, but they are the things that took the time that would normally have been spent on the Old Testament.

Ross and I have decided that paying for a semester of school is not really in our budget this year, so instead I am replacing that goal with learning at least one hymn every month on the piano. I have read the informational books, and have really enjoyed learning more about Ross's industry. In January I read The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino, in February I read The Automatic Millionaire by David Baugh, and in March I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Individuals by Stephen Covey. I think in April I will either read The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me (thanks Brian and Sophia!) or one of Ross's Marketing text books.

Ross and I have been VERY good at keeping our date nights. Sometimes they are rather short, and more often than not they involve driving around and talking for the limited time we have, but I have really enjoyed our time together.

The FHE goal has not been kept as consistently as I was hoping for, but it has improved a great deal and is likely to get MUCH better after we are really done with this whole moving fiasco.

Our debt has not decreased- infact it has increased- a GREAT deal- like by about 200 times. We do, however, now own a house though, so I think it all evens out! :) Our consumer debt should still all be gone by December at the latest, but not as soon as I wanted. I am THRILLED about our home though! We are not quite in it yet because, well, the whole process takes much longer than we anticipated. Right now we are tansients living in my parent's house because our contract ended on the 1st at our apartment. We should be in the house by Tuesday! The extra cash I have brought in has mostly gone towards our dates, and we both think that is a good place for it. This means our going out budget is all going towards paying down debt.

Emma is progressing well with her alphabet, but the potty training thing has lapsed a little bit with the new baby. She is still telling us when she needs to go and knows what to do, but Ross and I have not stayed on top of it as much as we should have. We will start fresh in the new house, and we are pretty sure that it will come back pretty fast. Emma does NOT like diapers and has been begging me to let her wear panties. Sara is doing GREAT! She is healthy and full of smiles, and, best of all, she SLEEPS!!! She sleeps in her crib for at least 5 hours every night- sometimes more! We LOVE it!

Our family is doing well and are we are grateful for all of our blessings. Emma is sweet and smart and extremely independant. Sara is such a wonderful addition to our family. I am healthy and rested and my postpartum depression is almost gone! Ross is doing VERY well with work, and was even rated in the top four AFLAC agents in Utah for a couple of weeks in March. Does anybody need any supplemental insurance? :) He has also signed up as a distributor for a new health drink called Exfuse. I know, I know- MLM crap right? WRONG!! We really like this new drink and have noticed a HUGE difference when we take it. It has all 7 of the big superfruits that are popular in the other juices (Noni, Xango, Mona Vie, Sibu etc.) without any artificial additives, and it tastes good. I am NOT selling it (although if any of you are interested. . .) we are just really enjoying the nice little boost it gives us, and Ross is excited to be so high up in the new company (it hasn't even officially opened yet). We are hoping that it will be a nice little secondary income that can go towards paying down debt this year, and then towards an investment account as soon as the debt is payed down.

Now for my latest Emma story. Yesterday we took Emma up to the Provo temple to walk around the grounds. We were by the fountain closest to the doors when Emma decided to make a run for it! She ran towards the doors just as a group was coming out and had pushed the automatic wheelchair opening button thing. Ross caught her just as she was about to dart in, and she started SCREAMING!! She was yelling, "Wanna see Geegee. Geegee in tempo, wanna see Geegee!" The group coming out was laughing so hard. I am glad that was the reaction, as they could have been upset for her lack of reverence. How do you discipline a child for throwing a fit about wanting to see Jesus? I was also very happy to see that she understands what I mean when I tell her that the temple is the house of the Lord. I think she is taking it a little too literally right now- but it is a good starting place I think.