Book Club Week 9

Hello! It's time discuss Week 9 of Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin. This week's chapter is titled, "Temporary Becomes Permanent. Clean Slate."

But let me begin by finishing up last week's chapter concerning stopping. As in when to stop a habit or how to prevent stopping a habit that you don't want to stop. As Gretchen notes on page 110, travel, vacation, sickness in either you or in a family member, new baby, new job, or anything else similar can cause you stop your good habits. This can be temporary, or unfortunately, these life events can derail your good habits indefinitely. It doesn't have to be this way!

I like to give myself permission to stop certain habits when certain life events happen. That way I don't stress about it and I just jump right back in when my life and routine gets back to normal. For example, when I am traveling or on vacation, usually I don't even plan to run. I just know that I am taking those days off. No worries. I'll begin running again when I get home.

Another example relates to my making Jimmy's lunch for him to take to work each day. This has been my habit ever since we were first married. My packing his lunch saves us money and also gives him a healthy lunch. But, there have been seasons of my life when I did not pack his lunch. These times included when I was suffering from extreme morning (all day) sickness with each pregnancy, when I had a newborn and was sleeping in with the baby since I had been up all night, and when I was recovering from surgery. As soon as I was back to my old self in those situations, I began packing Jimmy's lunch again. Just because I had to stop temporarily, did not mean that I stopped forever.

Now on to Clean Slate. What are some events in your life that have served as a clean slate? What day of the week do you like to begin something new? Which month?

I always like to begin new habits on Mondays, and I consider January 1 and August 1 (or whatever day I begin a new school year) as clean slate days. I strongly agree with Gretchen that how you begin your habits is how you will continue to do them. (Rubin 116)

As you begin the new work week, try to think about stopping or not stopping a habit and also what days or seasons serve as a clean slate for you to begin a new productive habit.

Better Than Before Book Club Week 8

Well hello there!

I was in Florida all last week for the Florida College Lectures. We were able to visit friends from Jimmy's medical school days on our way in Dothan, Alabama. Vicki and Tim were such gracious hostesses, and we enjoyed our time with them so much. We spent the rest of the week with Olivia and Julie plus many other friends. Olivia is student teaching this semester so we did not see her as much as we did Julie. But it was so good spending time with my girls!

We drove the 12.5 hour drive home last Friday, and I spent Saturday doing loads of laundry and catching up after being gone for almost a week. Saturday night we attended Family Bible Study at Kelly and Lynn's house. It was so good to be back among our own church family.

Last night, our friends Michael and Beverly were traveling through Tupelo on their way home from Alabama, and they attended evening church services with us, and then we all (along with Leanna and Joe and their family) enjoyed a delicious dinner together at Fairpark Grill.

So today was back to normal. Well almost. I had the bright idea this morning to make homemade Pop Tarts. My normal morning routine includes running a few miles either outside or on my treadmill while the kids are getting up, eating breakfast, and doing their chores. Sometimes I finish before I wake them up, sometimes I don't start until after they are awake, and sometimes I run a little bit--stop to wake them up--and then finish running while they get ready for school. Our goal is to begin our school day at 8:00 AM. This morning I began the pop-tart project at 6:50. I figured I would whip them up, wake the kids, and then run while the pop-tarts were baking.

Wrong. It was 8:05 before the pop tarts were ready. I never ran, and my kitchen was a mess!
But they were delicious!  Here is a link to the recipe I used.

So on to our book club. Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.

How is your reading coming along? Are you applying any lessons or ideas to your daily life?

I really like this chapter, It's Enough to Begin. First Steps. Begin now is such good advice. There will never be the perfect time to begin any habit or project, so just do it now. I am going to apply this advice to myself. Leah's and Sam's closets (well, actually Sam's entire room) need major purging and reorganizing. I mean I need to take every single thing out of Leah's closet and just start over! Most of the clothes and shoes in her closet do not even fit her or are not her style. That's because of two reasons. 1. She is growing like a weed--already taller than me! and 2. Many of her clothes are hand-me-downs from her college-aged sisters and they just don't look right on her. I guess styles do change over time, even though I try to avoid trendy clothes.

 So. To apply the best time to begin is now advice to myself, I plan to work for 30 minutes in Leah's closet tonight. This will also use the advice of small steps (Rubin 105).  Leah's closet certainly seems overwhelming, and I have put it off for some time now waiting for the perfect huge block of time. Hopefully over the next week or two I can get Leah's room completely cleaned out and then move onto Sam's. Which will be a monumental task. Can I just say two words? Legos and stuffed animals. Both have multiplied out of control in Sam's room!

What are your thoughts on transition rituals? (Rubin 108-109)
I like my transition from sleep to kids. I also like my transition from kids to sleep. When my babies (and toddlers and even pre-school aged children...and even older) needed me to rock them to sleep or lie down with them until they fell asleep, I happily did that. I did not even mind if they woke up in the night and wanted to sleep in our bed. In fact, I encouraged that. But I had to have my transition time (even though I did not have a name for it). After I got all the children to bed, I needed a few minutes to just lie in my bed with a book. No precious children, just Jimmy and me. Even if a baby or toddler needed me within an hour or two, as long as I could go to sleep by myself (well, with my husband too), I was refreshed enough to handle whatever my babies needed at night.

The morning transition from sleep to kids is a sanity saver for me as well. This one took longer for me to achieve, however. My kids all had some sort of built in sensor. As soon as my feet hit the floor, they would wake up! It did not matter what time it was. Someone was crying or calling out to me before I could even get to the coffee pot!
Now, they all sleep until I wake them on most mornings. I treasure the hour or two I have in the mornings before my work day begins. I read my Bible, pray, fix Jimmy's lunch, start the laundry, and run on most days.

Ok. So this post has gotten super long, and I have not even discussed stopping. 
I think I will continue this chapter tomorrow.

Chime in! Do you like to begin a task or new habit with a small step or a big step?
What transitions do you use?
What about stopping your habits? Do you stop when on vacation? When you get overwhelmed by sicknesses?

Book Club Week 7

Hello!
This week's chapter in Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin is titled, "Someone's Watching- Accountability" When thinking about how you best keep your habits or work toward your goals, are you a public resolver or a private resolver? Can you keep your habits even if no one knows you are working on them, or do you need accountability from someone else? Do you prefer a friend or family member to be your accountability partner, or do you do better if you must answer to a professional?

For most things I can hold myself accountable. If I decide I want to do something, I am pretty good at motivating myself to follow through. But I have learned that I need some external accountability to maintain exercise habits. I will run short distances on my own, but I will rarely do a long run alone. Also, if I schedule a time to meet a friend to do a long run, I will not cancel, but if I planned on doing the long run alone, I can easily talk myself out of it if the weather is too cold, too hot, too rainy, etc. However, if I have the external accountability of an upcoming half or full marathon, I will do the long run even if my running partner cancels, because of the race looming in the future.

Food-related habits are easier for me too keep if a family member is doing the same thing. But as far as homemaking, homeschooling, personal projects, my own internal accountability is enough

What about you?
Do you need some external accountability to help you create or maintain a habit? Can you plan a way to do this?

Have a happy day with your habits!

Book Club Week 6

This week's chapter is subtitled Scheduling.  (In case you are just popping in, we are reading Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin and discussing a chapter each week.)

Scheduling is one of my favorite topics! I love routine. I love doing things the same way in the same order day after day, whether it is my homeschool, my housework, my errands, or my hobbies and interests. However, I have failed at scheduling a regular blogging time for almost two years now. The older my children get it seems the less discretionary time I have.  I have every intention of blogging on a regular basis, but I have failed to figure out how to fit this into my daily routine. As I reread Better Than Before, I hope I can troubleshoot this. I would love to blog 5-6 days a week like I used to!

One of the quotes I like from this chapter is, "Scheduling also forces us to confront the natural limits of the day." (Rubin 73). As much as I like to cram my planner with "to do" items each morning, the reality is that there is only so much time in the day. For the most part, the items I schedule on a regular basis get done. I have a few non negotionables (like homeschool, cooking supper, Bible reading, laundry), and those things are easy for me to do each day. It's the sometimes items that cause me so much trouble. Gretchen refers to these as fixed  and unfixed habits. Some of my unfixed habits that require decision making are running, blogging, extra chores like bills and online banking, emailing, and now wedding planning. Trying to fit these things into my already full days is hard!

For example, right now I have the goal of running 20 miles each week. That means that I don't have to run 7 days a week. I usually meet Leanna one morning a week for a 6+mile run. That leaves me 14 miles or less to run alone each week. Every week I wrestle with what days to run? How many miles each day? If I skip Wednesday, then I may have to run Saturday.....on and on I go through this in my mind, every. single. week. But for Crossfit, it's a non-decision. The class meets at 1:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I cannot go on Wednesday because of the English class I teach on Wednesday afternoons. So I go on Mondays and Fridays, unless I am out of town. (or if it' s December and I have a million things to do to get ready for Christmas and my college girls and their fiances are here, so I skip Crossfit for 6 weeks!) Why can't I workout a set-in-stone routine for running? Even after consistently running for 10 years!

I love the power hour that Gretchen discusses. This is one of those ideas that I really want to try, but I have not yet. I have no problem creating the power hour list. It's finding the hour to do it in!

One more thing I gleaned from this chapter is that our habits must be sustainable. I tend to always want to try new things (in some areas), and I often set unrealistic expectations for myself.

What about you? Do you like to schedule your habits? Do you have any tips for someone who cannot seem to find time to do certain tasks?

Happy Reading!

Book Club Week 5 and Some Other Stuff

After a long break from school (since December 13!), we began our second semester today. I had planned to begin the day after we arrived home from Disney World, but both Sam and Leah began to get sick on the drive home. They both ran fever and coughed until Friday. They are still not 100%, but they are well enough for us to do a full day of school, go to CrossFit, and run errands.  I predict early bedtimes for all tonight. Clay actually began his schoolwork last week. He will graduate on May 9, so he is diligently working in his courses in order to be completed by that day.

I have also taken a long, long break from CrossFit. I have not been since the end of November!  I have run some, but I really let my exercise slide during the month of December. Between houseguests and preparing for Christmas and all that entails, I chose not to make time for exercise for a few weeks. However, I did set some exercise related goals for myself for 2017, and so far I am keeping them. I think I shared that I plan to run 20 miles and attend two CrossFit classes per week when I am home (not traveling). I have run almost every day since we got home from Disney, and I started back CrossFit today. What a workout!  I will probably not be able to get out of bed tomorrow!  The workout was called "The Seven". It was 7 rounds of 7 repetitions of 7 exercises for time. Mercifully there was a time cap of 40 minutes, which means even if you have not completed all 7 of the sevens by 40 minutes, you are done anyway! In case you are wondering, here are the seven things we did:

• 7 handstand pushups
• 7 thrusters
• 7 toes to bar
• 7 dead lifts
• 7 burpees
• 7 kettle bell swings
• 7 pull-ups

(Seven times through)

Don't be too impressed. I used the 15# bar with no weights for the thrusters, I cannot do toes to bar so I did knees to chest, my dead lift weight was 55#, my kettle bell was the smallest at the gym, and I had to do jumping pull-ups. Scaled pretty low!  But I did finish, and I know I will need Motrin in order to sleep tonight.

Now the book:  Better Than Before--Chapter ? "First Things First"

I agree with Gretchen that the following four areas are important ones to consider when establishing new (or breaking bad) habits. Sleep. Move. Eat and Drink Right. Unclutter.

In which areas are you working on habits?

Sleep: I slept only 6 hours a night for years. Many years those 6 hours were broken by nursing babies or toddlers that did not sleep through the night. About two years ago Jimmy gave me my first sleep tracking device and I made myself sleep 7 hours. I cannot believe how much better I felt with just one more hour of sleep. I love sleeping 7+hours! But the reality is most days I feel like I need the time more than I need the sleep. I fluctuate between waking up at 5:00 AM (my preferred time to arise and get things done) and 6:00-6:30 (I feel best when I sleep this late, but I feel like I start my day behind). My current sleep habit is to set my alarm for 5:00 most days, but once or twice a week I choose to sleep in. Just sleeping a little longer two times a week makes me feel good on the 5:00 AM days. That is what works for me.

Move: I have already shared my exercise habits.....I run either on the treadmill or outside at least 5 mornings a week. I run after I have drunk coffee, done my Bible study, fixed Jimmy's lunch, and started a load of laundry. Once a week I meet a friend (usually Leanna) to run a longer run. I have a watch that tracks my steps, and my goal is 10,000 steps each day. I have no problem getting those steps except on Sundays. I normally do not run on Sundays, and I sit down way more than usual since  I attend two services that day plus a Bible class. It does not bother me that I don't get 10,000 steps on Sundays. I expect not to. 

Also, I agree with Gretchen, if you act energetic, you will feel energetic!

Eat and Drink Right:

Jimmy and I were just saying last night that through our 25 years of marriage we have tried so many different forms of eating and exercise too. I'm glad health and fitness is an interest for both of us. Currently we are on Day 6 of the Whole30 again. I'm really not sure why we are doing Whole30 again....Lynn wanted to start after our Disney trip, and I guess I wanted to offer her moral support. Plus, Jimmy and I had gotten back into the habit of eating way too much sugar over the holidays. I was drinking Coke several times a week....and we just wanted to jump start our new year. (I feel like my new year began when we got home from Disney.) 

As far as drinking goes, of course we don't drink alcohol, but I do love my Coke! Our family drinks lots of water because it's basically the only beverage we keep in the house except for coffee. Lots of coffee. (I do keep canned Coke, little juices, and Gatorade in our schoolroom refrigerator, but the kids know that those are for special days, not for every day drinking.)

Unclutter:

My favorite habits of all fall into this category. I love to clean out and organize things--drawers, closets, rooms. Clutter makes me anxious. I can deal with my house not being super clean, but I cannot bear stuff lying everywhere. We clear all counters and tables and pick up all the stuff on the floor, stairs, etc. every single day. Sometimes more than once a day. I strongly agree with Gretchen that clearing my space clears my mind. I can't think with clutter everywhere. 

So what about you? What foundational habits are most important to you? 

Bookclub and Wedding Dress Update

First of all, THANK YOU! to all of you who responded to me via Facebook, Facebook Messenger, by commenting on my blog, or texting me. I appreciate your help so much!

And the result is:  Olivia found the perfect wedding dress!  We bought it Saturday!  A friend of ours who read my blog post kindly went to a bridal store in her town (about 80 miles from here) and asked if they had a dress in the style we were looking for. They did! And since we had been at my parents house (to spend the night so Jimmy, Julie, and Big Sam could run a marathon and Clay a half, but the race was cancelled due to ice and freezing cold temperatures---another story) and would be passing through Starkville on our way home, Olivia, Leah, Sam, and I stopped by. The dress was beautiful! It fits her perfectly, and only needs hemming.

So now on to our bookclub!  Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin, chapter 2 (the chapters are not numbered, but this chapter is titled, "Different Solutions for Different People:  Distinctions".
What a fun chapter! As I read through the descriptions of each set of pairs, I frequently would say to myself, "It depends....". While for some of the choices I definitely am one or the other, but for some of them it really depends on the area in my life.

Here is the rundown of the distinctions and in which one I chose to categorize myself. (Depending on the habit I was considering.)

• Lark or Owl?  I am definitely a lark. I stay up later than I intend most nights getting Leah and Sam to bed, turning off the lights, setting up the coffee pot, reading for a few minutes, etc. but I function so much better and more efficiently in the early mornings. In fact, I am pretty much done mentally and physically by suppertime. My preferred wake-up time is 5:00 AM.
• Marathoner, Sprinter, or Procrastinator? Well, in the running world I am definitely a marathoner, literally at some points in my life. I am NOT fast. But in all areas of my life I prefer to work on projects, tasks, housework, and anything that requires planning with a slow and steady pace. I tend to begin working on things way before they are due, and I like to make lists and charts to plan and mark my progress along the way. Sometimes my life gets hectic, and even though I have a slow marathon plan, as the deadline approaches I sometimes have to sprint to catch up!  I do not consider myself a procrastinator at all. :)
• Underbuyer or Overbuyer? It depends. I overbuy items like toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex, washing detergent, toothpaste, school supplies, etc. Anything that would be highly inconvenient to run out of. However, I underbuy clothes and shoes for myself. I usually am at Walmart or Old Navy buying some item of clothing I need for a vacation the day before we leave!
• Simplicity or Abundance Lover? I think I lean more toward simplicity. I like to have adequate amount of supplies that I need, but I do not hoard things, nor do I like a lot of clutter in my home. In fact, clutter is my enemy! :) I like an empty shelf, a half-full drawer, and I love quiet. No background music for me!
• Finisher or Opener? Both. I love to try new things! But I usually finish whatever I start. I like the satisfaction of finishing a project, of meeting a deadline, of planning an event, or of completing a running plan.  I will not knowingly open something I do not plan to finish.
• Familiarity or Novelty Lover?  Definitely familiarity. That's why we are about to take our 8th trip to DisneyWorld (the 5th trip with Kelly and Lynn) and why our other vacations are at the same beach (Seaside) or a national park. I like doing the same things in the same order every day. Too much novelty in my day stresses me.
• Promotion or Prevention Focuses?  I think I focus mostly on promotion. I get a lot of satisfaction from keeping my habits, and if my family notices and compliments me, well that's just icing on the cake!  :)
• Small Steps or Big Steps?   I like to take small steps. I set goals that I know I can achieve, then after that I raise the bar a little bit higher. Baby steps. Baby steps. 

At the end of the chapter Gretchen poses a series of questions. I wrote my answers in a notebook. Pondering the answers to these questions can help you figure out how to best motivate yourself to keep your habits and achieve your goals.

So how does this look in real life? I'll take personal Bible study for an example. Let's say that I have a goal of increasing my time spent reading, studying and meditating upon God's Word. Based on how I answered the sets of pairs above, here is how I would strive to meet my goal.

1. Since I'm a lark I will set time aside each morning for my Bible time. My goal is 45 minutes each morning. 

2. As a marathoner, I will select a reading and studying plan that stretches out the task over a set period of time. Like reading the Bible in 90 days or copying several books of the Bible in 6 months.

3. I will underbuy for this habit. All I need is my Bible, Frixion pens, and a notebook or two.

4. I want simplicity during my Bible time. Quiet. No people around. (Which is why I wake up at 5:00).

5. I will be a finisher in my Bible time. I will not "open" a different method of studying every couple of days. I will choose my method and my routine, and I will stick to that for the duration of the goal.

6. I prefer familiarity in my Bible time. I do the same things in the same order each morning.

7. Bible study can be both promotion and prevention focused. 

8. As in most areas of my life, I like to take small steps. A little each day, building slowly, but hopefully retaining what is most important. 

What about you? Did you like choosing which pair better described you and your habits? What would you like to share?

We will read Chapter 3: "We Manage What We Monitor:  Monitoring" next Monday.

Enjoy the reading!

Ringing in the New Year

Happy New Year!

I spent several hours yesterday making plans for 2017 and transferring information to my new Erin Condren planner. (Love those planners so much!). I used cute stickers and wrote all my family's birthdays, Jimmy's days off, and vacations and such for the entire year. Next, I started on my 2017 goals. I began with prayer and looking through my Bible for verses to inspire me this year. I also chose my word for the year:

JOYFUL

I jotted down verses that would help me be joyful and also to be mindful in my service to the Lord and my relationship with Him. My original list included nineteen verses, mostly from Matthew, but I chose one more to have an even number of twenty. I copied the references of the verses in the back of my planner, but I plan to also write them throughout the planner. I want to read these verses on a regular basis and also memorize them this year. Hopefully I can blog about them as well. 

Here are my focus verses of Scripture for 2017:

• Matthew 5:16
• Matthew 6:21
• Matthew 6:33
• Matthew 7:21
• Matthew 11:28-29
• Matthew 16:24
• Matthew 22:37-39
• Matthew 23:11-12
• Matthew 25:40
• Matthew 26:41
• Mark 4:19
• Luke 6:45
• Luke 10:41-42
• Galatians 5:22-23
• James 1:2-5
• 1 Peter 3:4
• 1 John 5:3
• Psalm 46:10
• Isaiah 30:15

I have made my tentative Bible reading and study plans for 2017. I want to do the Bible in 90 days at some point, but not right away. I also plan to finish copying Galatians, and copy the other books of the New Testament that I have not copied yet. Another goal I just decided on today is to read all four Gospels once a month. I don't know my method for this yet, because I just made this goal about two hours ago.....may one gospel each week?

Julie and I both mapped our Happiness Project goals for each month. Here are my themes for each month:

• January:  possessions
• February:  health
• March:  books and blog
• April:  service
• May:  pleasure (hobbies, fun outings, etc.)
• June:  homemaking
• July:  homeschool
• August:  mothering
• September:  friendship
• October:  marriage
• November:  eternity
• December:  family

This all sounds great, but the reality is I will probably live the theme of WEDDINGS from April until the end of July....because guess what???  Olivia is engaged to me married too!  So I have two weddings to prepare and plan for....seven weeks apart!

June 3:  Julie and Sam

July 22:  Olivia and Brian

The last category I brainstormed ideas for is books. I haven't made my long range plan yet, but I always have a list of books that I want to read. I am reading a few books right now, but I want to create a booklist for 2017. I will share that when I complete it. 

Olivia, Julie, Sam, and Brian are all here for another week, and we are enjoying them all so much. My house is full, and of course so is my heart.

Oh. I am going to restart the book club (Better Than Before). If you are participating, continue to read the first chapter on distinctions. I will post about that chapter Monday, May 9.

Happy 2017!

Book Club, Holidays, Running, and More

Hello!
I hope your Thanksgiving went well. I thoroughly enjoyed having Olivia and Julie home along with Brian and Ellie. We filled each day they were here with lots of fun and hopefully some relaxation for them.
We bought and decorated our live Christmas tree. We always say when it's done that it's the BEST. TREE. EVER. This year was no exception.

We drove 3 hours to celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents, my grandmother,  and my brothers and their families at my parents' house. I cannot express how much I enjoy Thanksgiving at my parents' house. It is truly a relaxing holiday for me. My mother does all the cooking for Thanksgiving, and I appreciate that so much!  It is the one holiday/event that I do not help with or do all the preparing/cleaning/cooking for. What a delight! My mother went over and beyond this year---she cooked extra of four of her Thanksgiving dishes and put them in disposable pans for me to take to Jimmy's family's Thanksgiving meal on Friday. I was so excited about this!  What a huge blessing, and I was so thankful. Everyone enjoyed the food she prepared for the Johnson Thanksgiving. It was all eaten!

We drove 4 hours Friday from my parents' house to Jimmy's mother's house on Friday to enjoy celebrating with his family. Ellie and Brian got to visit with all of our extended family in two days. Fun for all!

Saturday after decorating the tree (we bought it Wednesday, but did not have time to decorate it until Saturday), we all went to Kelly and Lynn's house to watch the Egg Bowl. (MS State vs. Ole Miss football game.) To our great surprise and delight State won!  Ellie and Brian got to experience the cowbell, and their hearing may never be the same.

I took the four college kids to the Memphis airport on Monday for their flight back to school. They get out for Winter Break on December 15. Yay!

Ok. The book club. Honestly, I have been so busy with visiting with my children, and then trying to get back into some sort of routine of homeschool and housework this week, that I have not reread our next chapter. I plan to post about it either Monday or Tuesday. Please keep reading, and try to determine which choice you are in each distinction category. For example, in lark or owl?, I am definitely a lark.

Tomorrow is the annual St. Jude Marathon/Half Marathon in Memphis. Jimmy is running the marathon and I am running the half. I am not the best trained for this event.....I have done my long run each week and gone to CrossFit once or twice a week, but that's it for the last 3 weeks. I don't doubt I can run 13.1 miles, I am just afraid that my time will be very, very slow!  I'll let you know!

Have a great weekend!

Book Club Today

Hello!
I know I have not posted yet about our book, Better Than Before. I have not forgotten!  I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to clean my whole entire house, change sheets on lots of beds, and cook four different kinds of soups.....all to prepare for my girls and their friends to come home from college tomorrow!  Also, the the other Kelly is coming tonight to decorate for Christmas.  So much going on!

I will post about the book either tonight or sometime tomorrow morning. But it will be mid-morning....Leanna and I are running 12 miles early in the morning. And it's supposed to be 34 degrees. Fun.

Until later......

Book Club Reminder Plus Some Other Stuff

Don't forget that tomorrow we will be discussing the following chapter in Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin:
"Self-Knowledge:  The Four Tendencies."

I am looking forward to discussing which tendency each of us is.

Yesterday my family all ran a 5K (except Olivia, who has been a little sick lately).  Jimmy, Clay, Leah, Sam and I ran a race in Plantersville (close to us) while Julie ran a race in Tampa. It was a good day for running! Leah and Sam have been training so hard for XC all fall, and they wanted to test their training on a road race. Julie of course has been training and running hard with her XC college team as well. All three of them set PRs (personal records) at their 5K races yesterday! I was so happy for them. It is so rewarding to have your hard work pay off!

My college girls and two extras (Julie's roommate and Olivia's friend that is a boy) are flying home for Thanksgiving holidays Tuesday night!  I. CANNOT. WAIT.
Olivia has not been home since she left for school in early August!  I will have the house decorated for Christmas when they get here. We plan to buy our live Christmas tree on Wednesday and then decorate it on Saturday. Fun! Fun!  We will also be driving to visit my parents and Jimmy's mama and celebrate Thanksgiving will both sides of our extended family.

Don't forget to read the book.

Better Than Before Week 1

Did you read the introduction? (Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin)

I must admit that I really don't have any idea how to conduct a book club on a blog! If you have read my blog in the past, you will remember that Lynn, Leanna, and I read this same book last year (or maybe it was longer than that) and discussed each chapter as we did our long run. Our procedure was to write on a card or on our hand (but this was often sweated off!) key words or phrases that we wanted to discuss while running. I think that for now, as we begin, I will follow this same format. I will list parts of the introduction that were interesting or though-provoking to me, and you can chime in with a comment either about what I listed or your thoughts on a different passage.

And of course, you can just read the book, read the blog posts, read the comments, and not respond at all. That's fine! But it will be fun if at least a few people will participate. :)

"Habits make change possible by freeing us from decision making and from using self-control." (Rubin 5)

• This is so true. I think that is why Gretchen titled the introduction "Decide Not to Decide."  When something becomes automatic, you don't have to wrestle with yourself each day to make you do that thing. Like when I did the Whole 30. I decided to follow the rules, so I did not have to spend my mental energy trying to decide how much creamer should I put in my coffee, how many M&Ms were too much for a bedtime snack, how many days a week could I drink a Coke in the afternoons.....Once I committed to following the program, the mental part was mostly easy. I did not love every day of the challenge. In fact, most days I am sure I complained about something regarding what I could and could not eat, but it was not hard in the sense that I did not have to do the mental gymnastics every morning.  The decision was made. I followed the plan.

"Habits mean we don't strain ourselves to make decisions, weigh choices, dole out rewards, or prod ourselves to begin. Life becomes simpler, and many daily hassles vanish." (Rubin 6)

• Can you think of a habit you have that while it may have been difficult to establish, now that it is part of your daily or weekly life, the hassles regarding that habit have vanished? Some examples may include morning Bible reading and prayer, bedtime rituals for your children, regular exercise, etc. When we make the initial decision to do something, by default, we don't have to decide every day. If you decide to not check your phone while you are eating a meal when your family, then every time you eat with your family, you don't have to decide whether or not it's a good time to look at your phone. You have already decided that family mealtimes are not the time to check your phone, so you are free from making that decision repeatedly. This made such good sense to me!
• Gretchen listed the "Essential Seven", which are areas where most people desire to foster good habits. Do any of these stand out to you? I need to work on habits under #4 and #7.

"We feel frantically busy, but also feel that we're not spending enough time on the things that really matter." (Rubin 9)

• Well this pretty much sums up my life! That's why I made my 10 Year Goal list, so I could see where I wanted to be in 10 years (in the areas of life that are important), and begin making choices that move me toward that goal right now.

"But I knew that different people need different solutions, so I aimed to identify every possible option." (Rubin 10)

• This is the what the rest of the book is about. Identifying your personality and how you respond to outer and inner expectations. When you can identify these things, you can create good habits and eliminate bad habits in ways that work with your personality. 

That's all for this week. Please leave a comment if you wish to discuss anything I listed or above or another part of the introduction that resonated with you.

I can't wait to hear from you!

Book Club Monday: Better Than Before

Today's book club assignment was to just secure your copy of the book we will be discussing, Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.

Have you gotten your book?  If you want to comment to let me know if you will be reading with me, great!  If you prefer to just read the book and read my discussion (and other comments) without identifying yourself, that's great too!
It will be fun either way!

By next Monday, please read the introduction, "Decide Not to Decide."

Happy Reading!

The Book Club

I have decided to do the book club!  I think it will be fun.  I plan to post about the first book in our book club, Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin on Mondays of each week. For this week all you have to do is purchase the book or check it out from your library. Then read the introduction which is entitled "Decide Not to Decide." I will post the first entry regarding the book on Monday, November 7. I'll share my thoughts about this chapter and hopefully some of you will chime in with comments.

That's it. Easy.  We will read and discuss one chapter each week. I can't wait!

One more thing.  It's time to dust off your Christmas Binder!  I printed out 2016 pages for mine, and I got so excited!  I actually did a little Christmas shopping last weekend, and I ordered new ribbon today.  I hope to post tips and assignments to keep us all on track as the holiday season approaches.  I'll try to do this on a weekly basis too, however, since the holidays are rapidly nearing, I may need to work on this at least twice a week.  I plan to make a master plan this weekend.

Happy Reading!

Habits And A Possible Book Club

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am a big fan of Gretchen Rubin. I have read her books The Happiness Project, Happier at Home, and Better Than Before. I read her blog when I have the time, and I listen to her and her sister Elizabeth's podcasts when I run alone. She shares so many pearls of wisdom, great ideas, happiness hacks, and interesting tidbits and facts. Yesterday she and Elizabeth were discussing hard habits vs. soft habits. Hard habits are those habits that are ingrained into your routine--you do them without thinking. Things like brushing your teeth, cooking dinner for your family, getting to work on time, etc. Soft habits are a little trickier. They are the habits that are more negotiable in your mind--exercise, reading, hobbies, eating healthier.  Soft habits are usually more difficult to stick to because you can usually find a good excuse to put the habit off until a better time.

I am considering starting a book club on this blog where where we read and discuss Better Than Before. I thought we could read a chapter each week and then discuss it via my posts and your comments.  What do you think?  Would you like to do that?  This is the book that Lynn, Leanna, and I read during our running book club, which was so much fun. There are so many fun ideas in this book and really interesting questions to ask yourself to try to figure out why you do (or don't do) what you do.

So. Please leave a comment if you think this is a good idea.

Happy Saturday!

Better Than Before: Chapter 2

This week's running book club met this morning to run 8 miles and discuss chapter 2 of Better Than Before, entitled:  Self-Knowledge:  Distinctions.

This chapter presented several pairs of types of people followed by examples of each.  I wrote down most of these choices on my hand along with some key words from the discussion questions at the end of the chapter.

The written reminders really facilitated our discussion….until I started sweating.  And also, for most of the pairs I wrote down only one of the choices, and sometimes we could not think of the other choice!

All in all, it was a lively, enlightening discussion, and a great run!

Our First Running Book Club Meeting

Leanna, Lynn, and I met Esther this morning for a 7 mile run and discussion of our very first book, Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.  Esther did not know we were reading the book, but we quickly summarized the introduction and chapter one for her.

Then we began talking about what we had read. Chapter one describes the Four Tendencies regarding habit-keeping.  I know there are various quizzes and assessments available to determine one's personality, but this one is geared to how or why you keep habits in your life. The four tendencies are:
1.  Upholder
2.  Obliger
3.  Questioner
4.  Rebel.
You can click here to take the quiz to determine which tendency fits you.  We all talked about which one we thought we were and why.

I am mostly an upholder, but I have a little bit of a rebel tendency every now and then.  Not a rebel in the sense of breaking rules or engaging in sinful behavior, but rebelling against something that is ok, but not my idea. I can be bossy (surprise!), and I don't take commands very well…..but for the most part, I am an upholder.  But here is another twist.  While I am almost always compliant with both outer and inner expectations (goals that people know or don't know about), I am careful to set goals that I feel I can achieve…..so I can be an upholder!  What a cycle.

So if you so desire and have the time, take the quiz.  Leave me a comment and tell me which tendency you are.  And if you are surprised that I consider myself an upholder.  :)

I Almost Forgot

I began a blogging streak one week ago today, and as I was getting ready for bed tonight, I realized that I never posted today.  Since I said I would post for 100 days straight---I turned my computer back on!

I really like to read.  At any given time I have at least two books going.  Currently I am reading, reading out loud to my children, or listening to on Audible the following books:

Climb Happiness Hill
Plugged In Prayer
the Bible
Better Than Before
Tom Sawyer
By the Shores of Silver Lake
The Indian in the Cupboard
Across Five Aprils

I think that is all.  Leanna, Lynn, and I chose Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin for our first running book club book.  We have to read the introduction and chapter 1 by Friday.

I better get to reading!

The Running Book Club

This is the stack of unfinished books on my nightstand.  Most of them were begun earlier this summer….I am rereading Tom Sawyer for the English class I am teaching, and yesterdayI chose Better Than Before to be the first other book that I finish.

A few weeks ago Leanna suggested that she, Lynn, and I have a running book club, which means that we choose a book to read at home and then discuss it weekly while we are doing our long run.  Doesn't that sound like fun? It really does to me. The problem we are having is choosing the first book. We considered Little Women, because it's the next book I need to reread for my class. However, this morning we discussed maybe doing a Gretchen Rubin book (she has three that I like).

I am going to suggest that we choose our first book by Saturday and have the first chapter read by the time we do our long run next week.

I'll share what we chose when we figure it out.  :)