kapachino

Category: personal

  • april recap and may goals

    April was a very slow and relaxed month for me. Not a whole lot of big stuff happened but I got to enjoy being fully Catholic, we celebrated Easter, we went to an Astros’ game with my family (my brother was even in town from New York), my mom had her gallbladder removed, we took the school hamster home for a weekend, we had our first book club revival meeting, David and I went to a concert, and I focused on some personal projects like crafting and deep cleaning the kitchen.

    As for my goals, I had intentionally simplified this month and made a lot of white space. The beginning of the year felt frenzied, mostly due to circumstances beyond my control, and I wanted to rest. Well, I accomplished that! In the meantime, I discovered that I am happier, more productive, and have more energy when I have more going on. More on this in a little bit, but here is how I did with my April goals:

    • Do taxes – Yes, and we owed less than $100 which I consider a win!
    • Complete Jesus tree ornaments – Finished this one on the last night of the month. I love them!
    • Go on a date – We went to see a favorite band, Over the Rhine, in concert.
    • Read four books (one spiritual) – I only read three, and I counted Pope Francis’s exhortation “Gaudete et Exultate” as my spiritual book.
    • Go to confession – Fail. I went up to church to do this, but the line was so long that I was afraid I would be late to mass. I’m going to try to go this month.

     

    may goals

    1 / One hour of adoration – I joined a new membership community for Catholic women, and the month’s topic is prayer. One hour of Eucharistic adoration is this month’s challenge.

    2/ Read four books (one spiritual)

    3/ Productive Life E-course – I bought the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, and this course from Crystal Paine is the first thing I want to tackle.

    4/ Go on a date

    5/ Family small adventure – No plans yet, but Memorial Day weekend might be a good time for this.

    6/ Clean moldings & fixtures – Next on my list of spring cleaning!

    7/ Make grocery staples price list – I am also working through this course on cutting your grocery budget, and my next task is to visit all the local grocery stores and note the prices of the groceries we are always buying. This is to figure out where it would be best to shop.

    8/ Pay off student loan – We are doing the debt snowball and I’m so excited that we are paying off a huge loan this month! This goal would probably happen anyway but I wanted to note it.

    9/ Send three specific invitations to friends – I was bemoaning the state of my friendships – how I don’t seem to see friends as often as I’d like – when I realized I should take things into my own hands. :)

     

  • march recap and april goals

    I absolutely loved the month of March! I was the happiest I have been maybe ever, the weather was simply gorgeous, and I officially became Catholic which was one of the highlights of my entire life. Also in March:

    • I finally got my phone screen repaired
    • My friend Sarah was in town for spring break and we went to the zoo together
    • We celebrated several birthdays including my brother-in-law, my niece, and a couple friends
    • I saw the doctor about my migraines
    • My best friend had her baby shower
    • We brought the daycare class guinea pigs home for a weekend
    • Lots of beautiful church services for Holy Week
    • David and I had our marriage convalidated

    Here is a recap of my March goals:

    • Read a spiritual or recovery book – I read Breathing Underwater by Richard Rohr which is a spiritual recovery book, so I hit both in one.
    • Celebrate my first confession – Done and it was wonderful.
    • Complete Jesus Tree ornaments – Not yet, but I made a lot of progress!
    • Go on a date – We did! We saw the movie Game Night and it was a lot of fun.
    • No sweets – Yes, although I probably overcompensated by eating a lot more bagels and toast. :)
    • Try a bedtime read-aloud with the kids – I’m so happy about this! We read most of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the kids are loving it. I think this is definitely a new part of our routine.
    • Minimal spending – Total fail! Ha. I wasn’t resolved on this one anyway, so I probably should have left it off.

    april monthly goals

    • Do taxes
    • Complete Jesus Tree ornaments
    • Go on a date
    • Read four books (one spiritual)
    • Go to confession (I want to make it a regular part of my life)

  • spring break

    I started writing this post in the middle of last week, but am just finishing it now. Obviously I am not a consistent blogger anymore.

    Spring break was last week, and we had fantastic weather. Upper 60’s and sunny. Just perfect. Over the weekend it became a little more muggy and hot, but that’s okay. The past few weeks have made me so glad to live where I live.

    David and I still worked last week and the kids went to daycare, but we managed to make the week special and fun, I think. I met another online friend who was in town with her family, and we went out to eat one evening and then took our kids to the zoo. We also arranged two other evening play dates – one at a park and one at our neighbor’s house to have pie on Pi Day. Meredith also went on two field trips so she was pretty much exhausted. By Friday I was relieved when our other neighbors cancelled dinner. We had a pizza and family movie night and it was perfect.

    The kids are in this phase where they both will only wear one pair of pants every day. Liam is also obsessed with a storm trooper jacket, which is unfortunately white. The hood has cutouts for the eyes and is more like a mask. Anytime I demand or even suggest that he can’t wear it because it is absolutely disgusting, he acts like I am torturing him. I say, why don’t you wear your Spider-Man jacket? And he says, but then I can’t be a power ranger!!! I had been handwashing these items of clothing in the evening and then throwing them in the dryer, but right on time (when I had a load in the washer) our dryer broke. So that’s fun. Eventually it got washed, and we are getting a new dryer today.

    My reading life is slowly picking up steam after a long rut. I read Bitterblue which is the third in a YA fantasy trilogy and I loved it. It was the first book in a long while that I neglected other duties in order to read. My best friend and I are reviving our book club and have recruited a couple new members, so that’s exciting. And I’ve added spiritual reading into my morning routine again, which is how I read ten Catholic books in a year last year.

    Lately we have had more downtime but it has seemed to fill up with spending time with friends, which is good but also I think we need more time at home to just hang out together. This week will be a normal week, and then after that – I can hardly believe it – is Holy Week. I will be at church a LOT that week, and I can’t wait. More thoughts to follow on that subject.

    Happy spring. :)

  • how i spent my personal money: jan & feb

    Inspired by Brooke, I thought it would be fun to share how I spend the money I have budgeted for personal spending (ie: “fun money”) every so often. Paying off debt is a big goal of ours, so it will also help to keep me accountable.

    Usually I budget $80 per month for my own use. In January, I wasn’t supposed to spend anything, but I ended up going over. In February, I budgeted higher because it was my birthday.

    January

    $50 – Domain renewal for this website (unexpected expense)

    $10 – Jesus tree felt pattern

    $34 – Blessed Is She Lent devotional

    Total: $94

    February

    $38 – Felt from Benzie Design to make Jesus tree ornaments

    $26 – Jet Pens sampler

    $9 – Extra that I put towards buying a felt letterboard from Amazon (along with a gift card I had)

    $6 – Photo album from Hobby Lobby intended for a week in the life project

    $2 – Ribbon from Michael’s for the Jesus tree ornaments

    $14 – Two books from Half Price Books: Confessions by St. Augustine and No Greater Love by Mother Theresa

    $7 – Postcards from a shop in Austin

    $19 – A book from Bookpeople in Austin: Breathing Underwater by Richard Rohr

    Total: $121

    In order to stay on track with my budget, I would ideally like to keep my personal spending around $25 in March. We’ll see how it goes. :)

  • february recap and march goals

    Another really busy month is finished and I’m behind on writing this post. In February:

    • I turned 36
    • Lent began, and I celebrated the Rites of Sending & Election with the Catholic Church
    • My parked car was hit on the street and spent two weeks in the shop
    • We threw a birthday party for our two cats
    • I had a friend visit from Norway (who I had never met in person) and we went to Austin for a girls’ weekend
    • David got a CPAP for his sleep apnea and his life was changed

    Much of the above I wish I could dedicate entire posts to, but this will have to suffice since I am just now getting caught up with life.

    And here is a recap of my February goals:

    • Renew RN license – Done!
    • Renew driver’s license – Done!
    • Pantry challenge with Jess – Yes, and I stayed under my goal of $400.
    • Go on a date – Yes! We went out to eat and saw a movie, plus we had the kids spend the night at my in-laws’ house so we had extra time together.
    • Go to Al-Anon – Once again, I didn’t do this. Apparently it’s not a priority? Even though I know it would be good for me and David, it’s really hard to find the time. Dropping it from my list for now and will rethink it.
    • Birthday list – Mostly done! A few things had to be rescheduled to March due to coordinating with a friend.
    • Prep for Ranveig’s visit and Austin trip – Prepared, went, and enjoyed thoroughly!

    march goals

    March is shaping up to be a lot calmer than the last two months. I will have a friend in town for spring break, Lent is in full swing, and Holy Week is the last week of the month. Other than that, it should be normal life, so I should have time to devote to personal things.

    • Read a spiritual or recovery book
    • Celebrate first confession
    • Complete Jesus Tree ornaments
    • Go on a date
    • No sweets
    • Try a bedtime read-aloud with the kids
    • Minimal personal spending