Follow-Up Friday

So, how are you doing with your New Year's resolutions? In an effort to keep myself honest, I've decided to post weekly updates on all of my resolutions. The second update of 2010 looks something like this:

• Scrapbooking: some concrete progress on my Project Life kit! I watched an awesome video that Becky posted on her blog. The video tutorial was done by Tammy, an amazing scrapbooking coach with lots of great ideas. Her tutorial shows that, while each person who ordered the Project Life kit received the same set of materials to work with, it is still completely possible for individual personalities to show through. I put my binder together and fiddled around with some layouts/color combinations. Second, thanks to Bargain Briana, I was able to score Coral's Paint Shop Pro for just $29.99 on Amazon.com! This is an older version of the software, but it had everything that I would need to edit my photos and it was 70% off! So, I decided to wait to print my photos until I have my new software and am able to edit my pictures. My software isn't scheduled to ship until next week, so it will probably be February before I put together a complete layout with photos and journaling cards. But, I plan to choose my photos and start on my journaling cards while I wait. (HUGE thanks to Carey, who agreed to let me purchase this software as a very, very early birthday present. I'm blessed to have a husband who understands my enthusiasm and is willing to help out in whatever ways he can!)
  
• Book Clubs: I am (not always so patiently) waiting for the discussion of Same Kind of Different as Me to begin on Bloom. The discussion officially begins on January 24th, but I often find myself logging into our Ning community to see what the other wonderful ladies in the book club are talking about. I've also started the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families - I've read the personal message, forward and most of the introduction, which will be discussed on January 28th at SimpleMom.net. I look forward to finishing the introduction and getting started on the first "habit" this weekend.
  
• Project 365: I have kept up with my picture-a-day goal so far, with one hiccup due to Abby's illness. It's still pretty easy to find interesting things to take pictures of - after all, I've got some very cute 16 month old subject matter at home. :-) But, I do want to give myself the goal of taking at least one non-Abby picture every day as well. I want to be sure that 365 Days of Ng (and, in turn, my Project Life scrapbook) showcase as much of our lives as possible. And, while Abby is absolutely a huge part of our lives, I don't want to forgot the other parts that make us who we are.
  
• The Bible in 90 Days: I am now completely caught up with my readings, even though I got behind after Abby's illness last weekend. (In fact, I'm a day and a half ahead!) God continues to open my eyes to the glory of His Word, and I am so thankful that I am able to spend time with Him each day. I would like to challenge myself to make better use of the other resources that are available to help me during my journey. I pray for God's guidance to help me recognize and utilize the tools that He has made available for my growth and learning.
  
• Eat From the Pantry Challenge: Carey and I finally got on the ball with this resolution. While we still haven't completed a thorough inventory of our cupboards (gasp!), we did take a look at what we had in the pantry before we went grocery shopping last Saturday. Prior to undertaking the challenge, Carey tried to keep our weekly grocery bill to between $30 and $40, so we decided to challenge ourselves: $20 a week. Gulp. How did we do? A trip to Waldbaum's cost us $20.52, and we got all of this:
  
  (Note: the rice cakes were returned (not on sale, like I thought they were) and exchanged for two containers of ricotta cheese, which were then used to create two pans of lasagna, one for immediate consumption and one for the freezer. Probably a much better use of $3 than a bag of rice cakes...)
  
  We sorta cheated, though. Target had a great sale on whole wheat pasta (which is normally super expensive), so we picked up 5 boxes for $3.85. So, we managed to keep the total bill under $25, which wasn't too bad for our first time. We have decided to forgo grocery shopping this week and, instead, donated $25 to the Red Cross for their relief efforts in Haiti. We'll probably have to pick up a quart of milk for Abigail, but Carey and I realized that we have so much food in the house, and we'll gladly scrimp a little bit this week to know that we were able to help in some way, in addition to our prayers. (Not to worry: Abigail will be well-fed, despite our skipping a grocery shopping trip. The Ngs are nothing if not stock-pilers, so the little munchkin will have plenty of fresh, healthy, delicious yummies to eat. Including some of that broccoli in the photo above!)

So, this was Week #2 of 2010. I'm still very excited about the changes I have decided to make and the challenges that I have placed before myself. God is so good, showing me that, with His help, I can accomplish the goals that I have set for myself and see positive change in my life.