The Last Couple of Days and Comments

First of all, I turned off the "prevent cross-site tracking" feature under preferences in Safari so I could reply to the recent comments you have left. As I was almost through doing this, I realized that instead of replying to each individual comment, I added my own comment to the post. So, I tried to respond to everyone......except for Polly. (Polly and I have been emailing, so I think we have caught up.) :)

Well, it's gotten hot here! Like all springs here in Mississippi, we have pleasant weather for many weeks, and then one day it's HOT. But I love the sunshine, and I try to sit outside with a book for at least 30 minutes each day.

I finished The Dearly Beloved on Audible, and I am dying to discuss this book with someone. I have so many feelings and opinions about Lilly and Charles and Nan and James.....their choices, their fears, their faith, their struggles. I would like to reread it one day in book form. I am currently reading two books: Greensleeves on my iPad and another Ann Patchett book, Bel Canto. They are totally different, but I am enjoying both of them so much.

Yesterday I had the great joy of keeping precious Mae all day long. Julie had a doctor's appointment (she's 28 weeks now), and I told her to just go home and enjoy a day alone. Since we are done with school for the summer, I have offered to keep Mae all day once a week so Julie can have some time to rest, read, clean, or whatever she wants to do. Mae kept me busy! I fed her breakfast as soon as she arrived, which included chocolate milk! Because she's at MiMi's house! Next we played with toys in my den and read some books. Then we went outside and enjoyed taking a walk, blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and some swinging. Leah woke up while we were outside and Mae was beside herself with happiness to see Leah! Leah!

She loves her aunt Leah so much. Leah played with her some and they watched about 30 minutes of Frozen 2 in our camper (Mae asks to go inside the camper). After that Jimmy took her out to the barn for a little while and then it was lunchtime. I made her a grilled cheese which she ate almost all of, and best of all, I gave her two BBQ chips! (MiMi's house). She also ate some fruit. :) We played some more (inside and out) and then it was nap time.
I read her some books, sang her some songs, and rocked her to sleep (just like I did her mama and my other children when they were little). She must have been worn out, because she slept for almost two hours!

After her nap Leah and I played in the pool with her until Julie came to get her. I think the day was a huge success, and I cannot wait for her to come again for the day next week.

Side note: I did have to order takeout last night from our local restaurant because I could not get supper started while she was here, and I was too tired to begin it at around 5pm when she left! (Not sure how I did all did when my five children were little!) I will plan better next week and maybe get supper started while she naps.

Also this week I have been helping Clay get all his ducks in a row for pharmacy school. What a lot of digital paperwork, documents to collect, websites to visit, etc. He found out this week that he is missing one class in order to begin pharmacy school in August (a mistake in his scheduling, totally his mistake). So he has scrambled to get permission from the pharmacy school (UTHSC) to take the class this summer--it's Anatomy and Physiology II), and then apply to, gain admission to, and find the class offered at a community college. I think he's gotten it all figured out. If all goes as planned, next Tuesday he should be able to sign up for the online class which begins June 1 and ends June 26. He's working, so I guess he will be doing school every night plus on his days off. Fun summer!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Are Your Days All The Same?

Do you have to think about what day of the week it is? What is the date? What is the month?

Without the regular markers of going places on certain days, I frequently lose track of what day it is. Most days seem like Saturday, even we are doing school. Thankfully, our homeschool year is wrapping up. Leah has to study for and take one last chemistry test. Sam is taking his last physical science test today, and they each have to finish up their current chapter in their vocabulary workbook, Wordly Wise. (We will just pick up where they leave off in August.) I am reading aloud to them Amos Fortune, Free Man, and we should finish that Monday or Tuesday. Then this school year is DONE! Yay!

More days of sameness coming up! But I have to say that with the exception of not getting to attend worship services and Bible studies with my church family (in person....not on Zoom), I am pretty content with the sameness of my days. I like walking more than once a day. I like reading outside after lunch. I like doing my housework in the late afternoon (since I don't have to be anywhere!). I like cooking more involved suppers some nights (again, I am home; I don't have to rely on the crock pot to cook while I am at some activity). I DO miss my friends. And I am sad that my children's camps and activities are cancelled. I know they miss their friends too. We have let them visit their cousins some recently, and that has helped everyone's spirits.

Speaking of sameness, there is one thing, that stays the same and His sameness brings great comfort. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." For that, I am thankful. When I feel anxious about the uncertainty of our future or even sometimes anxious about the sameness of my days, I also draw comfort from this passage of Scripture:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7

Changing the subject----about the internet. I heard on the news earlier this week that 32% of Mississippians do not have access to broadband internet. Guess what? We are in the 32%! Our satellite internet has been tested and stretched to the max these last two months. With Clay doing his college work online, and all the Zoom services and studies we have going on, in both March and April we got the "you are about to use all your data for the month" warning from Viasat about 8 days before our billing cycle was up. We squeaked by both months, barely!
One day our home will have high-speed internet service. One day.
Thankfully, blogging does not use up a lot of data.

I hope everyone has a fun, safe, and productive weekend.

Today

I had planned to blog last night about either books I am reading and podcasts I am listening to or about my Christmas planner and Thanksgiving plans, but instead my family invited me to watch Elf with them! I am not much of a TV or movie watcher unless I am on the treadmill, and when I do sit down to watch a movie with the family I am usually multitasking. However, last night I decided to sit on the couch with nothing extra to do and just watch the movie. I enjoyed it so much! I felt like I was in college.....just sitting on the couch with Jimmy, watching a movie.
After the movie I told everyone goodnight and put on a new set of sticker fingernails. Then I was too tired to think so I went to bed.

This morning I have to make my grocery list which will include all the non-perishable ingredients I will need to cook for our three Thanksgiving celebrations next week. I am off to the grocery store soon, and then I will do school with Leah and Sam for a little bit before it's time for Leah and I to go get our hair cut. After that, more school and then cooking for a Family Bible study and potluck dinner tonight (at Julie and Big Sam's house). Also Julie and Mae are coming over for the day! That's the most fun of all.

Later tonight I hope to get my thoughts together about all the books I have read over the summer and into the fall. I have a few good ones!

I May Be Back

Well. It's been a long, long time since I blogged.

I have heard on social media more than once that blogging is dead. That podcasts are the new thing now, and many people just don't read blogs anymore. True. I listen to a few podcasts myself, and I don't read blogs like I used to. However part of that is because of the stage of life I am in, and part of that is because many of the bloggers I used to follow are no longer blogging!

But I miss my blogging community, and I miss writing. I like getting my thoughts down on "paper", and I like sharing a little bit of my life and hopefully some encouragement to my readers.

So here goes. Again. I am going to try to jump back in.

Here is some of what has been going on in my life:

• Julie and Big Sam moved back to Mississippi (from Romania).
• Julie and Big Sam had a baby in August!  A precious baby girl named Mae.
• I am a grandmother! I love being a grandmother so much!
• It is difficult being a grandmother, a mother to a married daughter 9.5 hours away, a mother to a college sophomore 12 hours away, and a homeschooling mother to a 12 and 14 year old. (Plus Julie who now lives only 15 minutes away! :) All of those roles together have been quite the task. But I love being a wife/mother/grandmother most of all. Even when it's hard.
• Olivia and Brian have visited us twice--once in July and once over Labor Day weekend. I love having my children come home.
• I hosted Clay's college cross county team for an overnight stay last week. All 18 of them. It was delightful!
• Jimmy and I were able to travel and watch Clay's college end of season conference meet and also Leah and Sam's national meet over the last several days.
• I have basically quit running. :( I sometimes meet Leanna once a week or so for a 4-6 mile run, but that's it. I am not sure how or why I lost my motivation to run, but it's gone. And I am working on getting my motivation back. I ran/walked 1.5 miles this morning. I have set a goal of 10 miles this week.  For the first time in probably 10 years, I am not running the St. Jude Half Marathon (I ran the full marathon back in 2011, and I skipped 2014 to run a full marathon the next weekend). I signed up for the 10K instead. Now I am sad that I will be getting in the line to pick up the 10K bib instead of the half or full marathon bib! That may motivate me to get back into running! (Not that there is any shame in running the 5K or 10K, it's just that for so long I was running 2-3 half marathons a year, and now.......nothing.)
• I am still doing CrossFit once or twice a week. Our class meets three times a week, but going twice is always my weekly goal. 
• I am beginning to work on my Christmas Holidays plans. That makes me happy! This is the topic I will probably blog about first.....as I get my thoughts and plans together I will share them.
• I have read several good books over the last several months.
• I stated an inductive Bible study. I have found a new groove in my personal Bible study that is working well in my life right now.
• I love my church family. 
• I love my best friends, Lynn and Leanna.
• I love my family. 
• I am so thankful for all of my blessings. 

Back At Home

So I've been home for almost a week. I attended two weddings last weekend, unpacked and washed lots of clothes, and started back to school yesterday. No, we are not done with this school year yet. We will be done by next Friday, June 8. I am determined for Leah and Sam to both finish their math books, and they will by the end of next week. We will have a shorter than normal summer break, because I plan to start them back at the end of July. I want to get some school done before Julie's baby arrives, because I know I will need to take some time off for that. Our summer break is not actually shorter than normal, it is just broken up differently since we traveled to Florida and Romania in May.

I am almost in panic mode regarding what I have to accomplish the next two weeks....besides finishing up school, I am teaching VBS at our church next week, and the week after that I am teaching at RYC. I spent most of this afternoon preparing for my VBS class, and I hope to start on RYC planning tomorrow. I am teaching (with three other wonderful ladies) 3rd and 4th grade again this year. This is my fourth or fifth time teaching this age group.

My house is also super, super dirty! It has not been cleaned since the end of April. Sam's room and walk-in closet look like an episode of hoarders, and Clay's college stuff is filling up Olivia's room. Plus Julie's room is full of her wedding presents and five fully packed suitcases! I am not sure even where to begin! My plan is to just start cleaning my house today. I am just going to start in one room, and keep going, little by little until it is all done. It may take me a month! :)

I pulled out my master clean out list I made back in January. I have only checked off January's tasks so far. But I am determined. After I get my house cleaned from top to bottom, I plan to begin tackling that clean out list. We will see.

Life always gets in the way.

Spring Fever

The weather here in north Mississippi can't seem to make up its mind.  One day we need to run the air conditioner, the next the heat. In fact, when Leanna and I met at 6:15 this morning to run, it was 38 degrees. Typical. I don't think it has been above 40 degrees in months when we have met in the mornings to run. I am ready for some consistently warmer weather! We have actually had some days here and there where the temperatures were in the upper 60s-70s, so everything is blooming and is so pretty! Our dogwoods and azaleas are just lovely.

We are in track season, so that means getting to sit outside for hours and hours while the kids run and run! I am hoping for beautiful weather for our state homeschool track meet next Friday.

As the days warm up, I long to be outside reading a book instead of inside doing school! I plan to do what I always do as soon as it is warm enough--move our read aloud time to the backyard. I also eat my lunch outside when the weather is nice. We don't have too many pleasant days before it is super hot.

We are slowing winding down our school year. Since we have a 18 day trip (total travel time) to Romania next month, we will not finish all our school subjects before we leave. I plan to keep on keeping on until we have finished--even if it takes on into June to do so! I also plan on beginning our next school year at the very end of July, so that does not give us too long of a summer break. But that's ok! I reminded the kids that most of May is a vacation, so that is part of our summer. The reason I am starting us in late July is so that when Julie's baby is born in early September we can take some time off for that! I. cannot. wait.

I have so many cleaning out projects that I am itching to do! They include the rest of my kitchen (I've done over half my drawers and cabinets), the "secret room" which is an unfinished area upstairs where I have stored many, many toys and lots of Olivia's and Julie's things, and Sam's room and mostly his walk-in closet that has become a catch-all for, well, everything.  I would love to have a TV show come do the secret room and Sam's room and closet for me! Both of those rooms are going to be major projects that require big chunks of time. I'm really too embarrassed to post before pictures, but I may get brave and do that.

As you can see, yard work is not on my list. Thankfully, when Clay and his roommate were home for spring break, they did almost all of our spring yard work! All we really have to do is maintain now. I am so grateful for all the hours they spent putting out mulch.

I hope you are enjoying your spring too.

Just Checking In

Hello! I thought I would check in on this beautiful Friday morning! The temperature is supposed to be almost 80 this afternoon here in Mississippi. I want to do school outside today! We just might do that.

The kids are at the track right now running. I stayed behind because I did not want to be that mom that takes her kids to the track to run and just sits in the car! I normally run or at least walk when I take them (it makes me feel better to be exercising too instead of just watching them), but since I am still struggling with this strained/pulled/broken forever trapezius muscle, I am unable to do anything really. It's been 11 days since I injured it! 11 days! It even hurts to walk for very long, so I am not running of course. I am getting a little antsy without regular exercise. And my house is getting dirtier and dirtier because I certainly cannot vacuum or mop!

Anyway. I have been pinning and planning things for our little pop-up camper while I am resting. We are taking it out for the first time soon, and I hope to have everything all ready. It will certainly be a learning experience the first few times we camp. I really cannot even imagine how it will be!

We have had a productive school week. In addition to their regular subjects like math, grammar, spelling, etc., Leah and Sam are still learning about the presidents and each of our fifty states. Each morning we spend 15-30 minutes reading about and making a page for our notebook for either a president (in random order) or a state (in alphabetical order). When both projects are complete, I plan to bind the state pages in some sort of book. The president pages are 3-hole punched and are going into a decorated binder.  We are also slowly working our way through Sonlight Core F which is the Eastern Hemisphere. We are studying China right now.

I hope all of you have a fantastic weekend! I hope to clean out my refrigerators. Fun!

Podcasts I Like

I discovered the world of podcasts several months (or even over a year?) ago. I began with Gretchen Rubin's Happier podcast, and I started at the beginning and listened to every single episode. I have since added Northeast COC, The Big Boo Cast, Side Hustle School, and Note to Self to my podcast library. I subscribe to all of these, and I download and listen to them whenever I can.  My normal podcast listening times are when I am in the car alone running errands or driving to the airport (about a 2 hour drive). Our whole family used to listen to the Florida College Daily Chapel podcasts until they switched to livestreaming chapel and dropped the podcast format.  Occasionally the kids will listen to podcasts with me--we will listen to sermons as a family while traveling--but the only podcast that I regularly listen to that holds their interest is Side Hustle School. So I usually just listen when I am alone. Sometimes I listen to podcasts when I am running outside.

Here is a little overview of each podcast I like. (I don't know how to include a link to the podcasts.....I just did a search in the podcast app on my iPhone to find the podcasts.  Then I subscribed to each one, and just like magic, a new episode appears on the feed on my phone whenever it is published.)

• Happier With Gretchen Rubin:  Gretchen and her sister Elizabeth discuss a variety of happiness related topics, usually within the framework of the four personality tendencies that Gretchen has developed. The share a happiness hack (a handy tip), a happiness stumbling block, reader questions, and gold stars and demerits. They also sometimes interview guests, which I always find interesting.  The podcast is light-hearted and fun, and sometimes I even laugh out loud at Gretchen and Elizabeth.
• Northeast COC: These are the weekly recorded sermons of our preacher, Trey Haskett. Trey has been working with our congregation since July, and he is such a good speaker. He is very knowledgable of God's Word, and his sermons are practical, encouraging, and inspiring. 
• The Big Boo Cast: If you need a good laugh, then listen to any of Boo Mama's (Sophie) and Big Mama's (Melanie) podcasts. I have not listened to all of them, but I plan to start at their very first episode and get caught up. Leanna described this podcast the best...."It's like listening in on their phone conversations!" Sophie and Melanie talk about everything and nothing, and it is so entertaining! Some of their topics include kitchen renovations, skin care, fashion, TV shows (which I never know what they are talking about since we don't have cable!), their supper plans, and their daily life. Such a fun podcast!
• Side Hustle School:  This is a new podcast, just launched on January 1 of this year. Chris Guillebeau hosts a daily, yes 7 days a week, podcast featuring stories of people with successful side-hustles. I learned that a side-hustle is a part time job that you have in addition to your normal full-time job. The people and the their stories are fascinating to me! Each podcast is about 7-8 minutes, so they are perfect for a short drive in the car. Like I said earlier, Leah and Sam will listen to this one without complaint. 
• Note To Self:  Manoush Zomorodi is the host of this podcast about how technology affects our daily life. Sometimes the episodes are a little weird (to me), but overall I really enjoy them. I have not listened to all of them. I usually pick and choose based on the title and content description. I am especially interested in the episodes concerning our digital privacy. Fascinating. One of my favorite Note To Self podcasts is actually a series from last year Manoush did chronicling two working mothers and their quest to launch an app to help working mothers with their homemaking responsibilities. I was struck by the struggle they face balancing work, marriage, and parenting. Very interesting. I will say that this blog features content that is really far removed from my daily life, but that is one reason I like it so much. People can be so different in so many ways, but also we are the same. 

What about you? Do you listen to any podcasts? Do you think I would like to add them to my playlist?

Three Things

1. We recently bought a pop-up camper, and as I organize and decorate it I will share pictures. I will also share our adventures in our new tiny house camper!

2. One of my soon to be sons-in-law (Olivia's finance', Brian) has a new blog. Here is the link.

3. I tweaked the subscribe feature to my blog. If you would like an email with a copy of my post each time I blog, just click on that box and enter your email address. I used my wedding planning email address to sign up and try it out, and there seems to be about a 24 hour delay from the time I post on my blog until I receive the email. Try it out!

I'll post tomorrow on Better Than Before. I will finish up discussing last week's chapter as well as delve into the next chapter. It's called, "Temporary Becomes Permanent".

Hello Blog

I am still here.  We have all enjoyed so much having my two college girls home for a month.  Olivia had to fly back on Thursday (she is in the school musical and had to go back early for practice), and I will be taking Julie to the airport on Monday.  It has been a fun and really packed month.

I began our homeschool studies last Monday.  I had to make two road trips last week, and we had company for part of the week (and that was so much fun!), so we did some school each day, but only one day of all subjects.  In the book Better Than Before than Lynn, Leanna, and I are reading for our running book club, Gretchen says to remember progress, not perfection.  So that may be my new motto.  I have been discouraged for some time now over my lack of being successful in various areas of my life.  Lately I succumb to giving up when I can't do it all or just like I envision it. But that really is not good.

So I am going to aim for progress.

I set many, many New Year's goals.  In fact, I gave each month a theme!  However, I was discouraged the very first day when I failed to meet my checklist.  But since it's just January 9, so I have still have time.
I did begin the B90 Challenge (read the entire Bible in 90 days). So far I have been able to keep up with that, and this goal is the most important one I have set for the next three months.

I've been taking pictures of a few of my favorite things (just random things), and I plan to share those soon.

Happy January!

Happy Holidays!

Well, hello there and Happy Holidays!  Let the holiday season begin.
I tried to make my blog look a little "Christmasy".  I may tweak it a little bit.

Ok.  So since I have not blogged in forever, let me reintroduce myself.

My name is Roan Johnson.  I am happily married to the love of my life, Jimmy. We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary back in June. We have five children:  Olivia--20, Julie--18, Clay--16, Leah--11, and Sam--9.  I am a full time homemaker and homeschooling mama.  This is my 15th year of homeschooling, and with two girls in college, I am down to teaching only three children.

I enjoy planning and organizing, reading, running, sewing and scrapbooking, although I never seem to have (make) time for sewing or scrapbooking. Sometimes I enjoy cooking.  I am a faithful weekly menu planner. I like routine in my days, and clutter and chaos stress me.

I am a Christian. I love my church family. I aspire to learn more and more from God's Word, so I always have some sort of Bible study plan going on.  Over the years I have completed the Read The Bible in 90 Days Challenge I think 3 times.  I am planning on doing this challenge again beginning in January.  I cannot recommend that challenge (and it is a challenge) enough.  To read the entire Bible from cover to cover in such a short period of time really impacts your life.  It helps to get the big picture of God's plan for His creation.  Currently I am reading High Voltage Prayer (the workbook) by Edwin Crozier, and I am also studying Acts for our weekly Bible class.

I began blogging in May of 2008, and I blogged diligently and regularly until the beginning of 2015.  I explained about why I took a hiatus in this post.   Then I announced that I would blog for 100 days straight, beginning on my birthday, September 16 (which is 100 days until Christmas).  But then I failed at that.  When you get out of the habit of doing something, it is really hard to begin again.  We just read about that in our book club book Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.  Beginning a new habit is fun and exciting (most of the time), and your motivation to succeed is high.  When you experience a disruption in your habit and you desire to begin again, it is much harder the second time to be successful.  I have experienced that difficulty recently in both my running and my blogging.  Both are activities which I enjoy very much, but for some reason have struggled with actually doing them.

So. Hello again.  I am not making any promises this time, but I do plan to share some thoughts, encouragement, holiday planning tips, and just the mundane happenings of my life on somewhat of a regular basis.

This afternoon I am taking down my fall decorations to prepare for Christmas decorating tomorrow!

This and That

• We are still watching the MSU game.  So far, it has not been too much fun to watch.  It's not over yet, so I am still hopeful.
• My girls are coming home for fall break in less than two weeks!  Yay!
• What did we do before Google?  How did we find the answer to random questions? 
• Do you ever look at your Pinterest pins?  Or do you just pin things and never look at them again? I recently looked at all my pins, and I was so inspired by the things I had pinned!
• Megan introduce me to Bitmoji, which I immediately shared with Lynn and Leanna. Our texts will never be the same!  :)
• The game is almost over. It's not looking too good for the Bulldogs.  :(
• M&Ms are my favorite.
• If I run 3 miles in the morning, I will have all my miles for the week.
• That's all.

Warmer Weather

Finally.  Sunshine!

I sat outside yesterday while eating my quick lunch so I could soak up a few rays from the sun.  I think we will be doing our Sonlight reading outside soon.  (We have been reading our Sonlight books at night for various reasons).

Jimmy is tilling up our garden site right now.  I think I missed the opportunity to plant potatoes, but I plan to plant tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and squash. This year I will plant enough green beans to hopefully can for the fall/winter.  I have only 3 jars of tomatoes left from last year's crop.  I would have run out sooner, but I have bought some canned tomatoes at the store in order to save my last few jars.  If we have soup one more time this spring, I will use the remaining jars.  We have also eaten all but three or four jars of the beans I canned last July.  I have plenty of dried beans (chickpeas, pintos and black) to can again, I just have not set aside the time for the task.

The kids and I both have spring fever with this warmer weather.  No one wants to do school!  We want to be outside.  The kids are roller-blading, swinging, riding their bikes, and romping in the woods.  I want to plant my garden, trim my shrubs and monkey grass, clean out the flower beds and spread the one hundred bags of mulch Jimmy bought last weekend.  However, we are still doing our schoolwork. And when I am home in the afternoons, we will do our Sonlight reading outside in the lovely sunshine.

We have a few 5K and 10K races planned for March, April, and May.  Also Julie will be graduating on May 1, and I will be bringing Olivia home from college at the very end of April.  The other three children will continue their schoolwork until the Friday before Memorial Day.  Then summer break will begin!  Yay!  I plan to continue some Sonlight reading throughout the summer, but we will see if I actually do it.  :)

Happy Spring!

More Winter Weather and the Internet

We had another winter storm event last night!  We had sleet/freezing rain throughout the night, and we awoke to a coating of white---ICE!  It is pretty, but not as pretty as the snow last week.  Jimmy, Leah, and Sam are outside right now sledding on our frozen driveway!

Well.  For over two weeks now we have been without any internet service except for our cell phones!  Our HughesNet modem died, and when I called to inquire about a replacement or repair, the nice lady from India informed me that our equipment was out of date, and that our only option was to upgrade and sign a 2 year commitment.  Of course.

I was not interested in the upgrade or the 2 year commitment.  I am waiting, waiting, waiting for some kind of high speed internet service that is not satellite to come to my area. The upgrade provided less daily allowance of megabites than we already get (500MB a day, in case you are wondering), for about $10 less per month.  Anyway, we are just using our cell phones as hotspots when we need internet……so who knows how much blogging I will get around to doing.

Our spring break has not been too spring-like, but we are definitely enjoying our time with Olivia.

Jawbone UP

Mine is like the one on the left, except it is PINK.

Jimmy gave me the neatest gift for Valentine's Day.  A Jawbone UP fitness bracelet.  I gave him one for Christmas in 2013, and he has enjoyed tracking his fitness with it for over a year now.

So.  What does this bracelet do?

• It tracks your steps.  Every step you take is tracked over each 24 hour period.  When you initially set up your Jawbone, you choose how many steps you want to set as your daily goal.  I chose 10,000.  It is so interesting to see how many steps I take based on my daily activities. On Sundays, when I attend two church services plus Bible class, and I typically don't run, plus I tend to sit and read on Sunday afternoons, I have a hard time meeting the 10.000 step challenge.  However on the days that run, even when I run only 3 miles, I have no problem attaining the 10,000 step goal, and I usually exceed that. I can meet the 10,000 step goal on weekdays when I don't run, but it is close.
• It tracks your sleep.  This is really my favorite part.  I KNOW that I don't get enough sleep on a regular basis.  Tracking my sleep for over a week now has shown me how little I do sleep.  It breaks it down into deep sleep and light sleep.  I am not sure how much of each type of sleep is most beneficial, but the Jawbone has shown me that on most nights I have less and shorter periods of deep sleep than light sleep. It tells you how many minutes it took you to fall asleep and how many times, if any, that you woke up during the night. I set my goal for sleep at 7 hours, but I have met that goal only 2 or 3 times. 
• It wakes you up. You can choose the time you would like to wake up each morning, and the Jawbone will wake you up within a 10, 15, or 20 minute (you may can customize this even further) window, waking you up at the optimal time based on your sleep pattern.  It just buzzes on your wrist until you shut it off. I did this for a couple of days, but I turned off this feature last week when I needed to get up at different times each morning for various reasons.  You use the app on your phone to set up and modify this feature, and since I don't keep my phone in my bedroom, it was too much trouble to remember to set the alarm on the app before I went to bed……anyway, I am just using my regular alarm clock, but I may reset the Jawbone alarm again.
• It challenges you. If it sees that you are exceeding your steps taken goal, the Jawbone will challenge you to increase your steps goal.  My Jawbone has done this almost every day, especially after the day I ran 10 miles. Some days I will choose YES, I'll accept the challenge, and some days I'll choose NO, if it is a day that I don't think I will make the new goal.  Because…..if you meet your goals, you get a smiley face.  
• It syncs with your smart phone. You have to install the UP app, and that is where you track, set up, and view all of your activities.  You can access the app throughout the day to see your progress.
• It tracks your food intake. I am not using this feature, but Jimmy is.  You can scan the barcode of your store-bought foods, or manually record the foods that you are eating.  You can set calorie goals, and it lets you know if you are staying within your calorie budget.  Smiley faces included!  It also rates your food based on it's nutritional content:  green, yellow, or red. You can also record your weight and set goals for that too.
• It is a stopwatch.  You can time your exercise, and then label it as such on the app.
• Other features: include a power nap setting and alarm, activity alert, idle alert, and other reminders. Also, you can "be friends" with other Jawbone UP users, and you can see their daily activities on your app too.  That really is too much information, in my opinion, so I am only friends with Jimmy.  I like seeing how many steps he has taken or how long he slept each day.  

One day my Jawbone challenged me to drink 8 glasses of water. I could only drink 4 that day (I did drink other things….coffee, a coke), and so I did not get a happy face. 

It's a fun little gadget, and I am enjoying it very much!

The Blog, The Blog

Sometimes I get on a roll, and I blog regularly.  I get grand ideas like blog every single day for the entire year.

And then life gets hectic, and I fail to blog at all.  Birthdays and special events happen, and I fail to record them.  I panic about this because I am not scrapbooking anymore, and I like to document special days in our lives.

Some days I have some time available to blog, and then I can think of nothing to say.

Some days I have a lot on my mind that I want to shout from the rooftops, but no time to type.

So I wrestle with this blog thing.  Which explains the sporadic nature of my posts.

I also am reminded, again, that I have no margin in my life.  When small or large interruptions happen (like Julie having her wisdom teeth out last week), or small or large crises (like my father-in-law being put in the hospital last Friday), my days quickly unravel. Add to that the emotional stress of the situations, and every task seems more difficult.

My father-in-law is still in the hospital.  He had surgery yesterday, and he will remain in the hospital for the rest of this week.  He still faces another surgery (as far as I know right now) at another hospital at a later date.

Well.  Those are my thoughts for the day.
Oh.  I began the Bible in 90 Days reading plan February 1.  So far, I have kept up with the reading for these first three days.

The First Day Back To School

Well, the first day back to school in this new year went just fine!  It's just 8:30 PM, and I am ready for bed, but the day went well.  We completed all of our schoolwork, went to piano lessons, Sam's and Kroger.

Speaking of Kroger.  It is total chaos right now!  They are remodeling or maybe just rearranging the store, and I. CANNOT. FIND. ANYTHING.  I told the store manager last week that he was messing up my personally made preprinted grocery list.  I have the items that I buy listed in columns in order that they appear as I walk up and down the aisles.  He apologized and laughed!  He reminded me that it has been 10 years since they rearranged the store.  When I told him that I would start taking notes and create a new list, he said for me to wait a few weeks!  That things were changing every day, and it would be at least four weeks before the store layout was finalized.

So today I wandered around with all the other bewildered shoppers looking for groceries.  I finally found the chocolate syrup----in the produce section!

I still have one more Disney World post.  About the races that 10 of us did while we were down there.  But, I do not have all the pictures on my computer yet.  We used Lynn's phone to take most of the pictures, and I have not put them on my computer.

Even though today was our first day back to school, Olivia enjoyed a holiday today.  When we asked her what she was doing today she said, "kayaking with manatees".  Well that sounds like a fun thing to do.  Not something we could do here in Mississippi!  She had a fantastic time!

It's Already November

Where does the time go?  I can't believe that it is November.

I have done nothing to prepare for Christmas.  Well, I have bought a roll of red wrapping paper and two rolls of easy to tie ribbon.  And like I said last month, I am NOT buying anymore gift wrapping supplies.  My challenge for myself is to use up all that I already have!

Some years I have had all of my Christmas shopping done BEFORE THANKSGIVING!  Not this year.  In fact, I have only not even begun a list yet.  But I plan to make a list before next Thursday.  That is the night that I am going to the Baldwyn Downtown Open House. (And I totally just made that name up).  It is is downtown Baldwyn (where Leanna and I do our long runs each week), and it is their Christmas open house, but I don't know the official name of this event.  I just know that Baldwyn has the cutest gift shops, one of which is owned by one of Jimmy's first cousins, and I plan to get a lot of my Christmas shopping done from 5-8 next Thursday night.  Fun!

Last weekend was so much fun!  First, we went to our friends, the Prince's house for a Halloween party.  Jimmy and I dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, only I did not wear red spandex.  I made our costumes (don't be impressed), and they did turn out cute!  I will post a picture another day. (They are in my phone, and my phone is far away from me right now.)  Julie was Rapunzel from Tangled, and she made her costume too, and you will be impressed when I share the picture.  Leah was Dorothy, (wearing a cute costume my mother made), and Clay and Sam were, well, I'll let you see when I share the pictures.

Then, on Saturday, we went to see the Bulldogs play.  The #1 football team in the nation, Mississippi State!  We arrived in Starkville at noon, and joined Kelly and Lynn and their children for a chilly day of football, food, and fun. It was cold! We had not tailgated since the last year that we had season tickets with Kelly and Lynn, and that was was several years ago. We really had a great time.  We went early to secure our spots near the sidewalk for the Dawg Walk, and that was an experience!  Those football players were treated like movie stars walking on the red carpet!  Ha!  And Dak Prescott had three bodyguards!

We almost froze at the game, but we stayed until the very last second.  What an exhausting game.  Thankfully, the Bulldogs came out on top.  We got back to our tailgating spot about 10:00 PM.  We had already packed everything up before the game, so we hung out in and around Kelly and Lynn's truck until 11:30, and truly "tailgated".  We ate the rest of our food and drank cokes from the back of the truck.  And most of us crammed inside the truck to try to keep warm.  When the traffic looked like it was moving more than 1 foot per five minutes, we decided to ease into the line of cars and try to get home.
We arrived home at 1:00 AM.  I am so glad that we got to set the clocks back.  We needed that extra hour of sleep.

I am drowning in schoolwork, making study guides, list making, graduation planning, marathon training, grocery shopping, laundry, housecleaning (or lack thereof), etc.---just like you!  :)

Olivia is in New York for a national college XC meet.  Wow.  She is far away from us!
The kids are ready for me to read Farmer Boy to them before bed…….

Happy Days

Olivia is home for her short fall break, and we are all so excited! She has to go back on Sunday, so we are squeezing in all of the rest, food, and fun that we can.  We are taking off from school today, but tomorrow we plan to have a regular school day.

This week has gone by so fast!  Tuesday, Julie and Clay made the 11 hour round trip for a XC meet.  Thankfully, our two Spartans coaches each drove an 11 passenger van and took the entire team by themselves.  I was so weary from traveling--I was so thankful that Heather and David did that.  Our boys and girls teams both did fantastic!  The boys won 2nd place (coming behind the first place team by only 2 points), and our girls won 3rd place.  We also had some individual runner's awards too.  Go Spartans!

The weather is getting cooler here, and the leaves are changing on the trees. God's creation is so beautiful!

***Holiday Tip***
It's time to start thinking about your Christmas cards (if you send them).  I wanted to take the picture for our card this weekend, but the boys need haircuts.  So, I will take them during Olivia's Thanksgiving break.  I will be thinking about and planning what I want them to wear.  I may look at the cards on Shutterfly and choose my card.  Then I can match the children's clothes to the card.  Anyway, that's my goal for now.  Choose the card and plan the outfits.  I'll take the picture during Thanksgiving break and order them right away.  I should have them ready to go out by the beginning of December.

Going or Coming?

So here's the deal.

I left home at 6:00 AM (Central time zone) with my family (minus Olivia--at college) on September 29, for a vacation to St. George, Utah.  We flew into Las Vegas (Pacific time zone) and rented a van to drive the 2 hours to St. George (Mountain time zone).  We had a wonderful time in Utah, visiting Zion National Park for two full days and Snow Canyon on two other days.  We did a variety of other fun things too. While we were there Jimmy ran the St. George Marathon.  We came back to Las Vegas on Sunday morning, worshiped with a group of Christians there, and then visited Hoover Dam. We flew home Monday, October 6 (back to Central time zone)and arrived home at 9:30 PM.  I then left Tuesday, October 7, to begin driving to Olivia's school to deliver her a car.  I stopped halfway (Eastern time zone), spent the night, and started early yesterday morning driving the rest of the way.  We have had a nice but brief visit.  She is in class right now, and I am doing her laundry.  I am flying home after lunch today.
So between Sunday and Wednesday I have been in the following states:  Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida.  I will add Tennessee to this list today.  :)

I really don't know if I am coming or going!

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip (we took over 500, I think!)

"But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more."

Psalm 71:14