You know that moment when you do something you never thought possible? Gosh, it feels good. But “good” can’t even do September justice.

Before this past month, I hadn’t experienced that a whole lot. Sure, the adrenaline from swim races, performing in musicals, and lots of other awesome moments. But this past month was different.

I made goals. I didn’t stick to all of them (go figure), but the ones I did stick to have completely changed how I live my life. It’s changed the way I make choices, and what I let dictate how I spend my time. And I am so excited to share them with you!

Here is the wrap up on each category from September (saving best for last, so read all the way through.)

Prayer

1. Find a morning offering or devotional of some sort.

Blessed is She – daily readings with a devotion. Yay! The only way I could see it be better is if it included an action item of some sort.

2. Find examen to say before bed.

Thank you Pinterest.

3. Sign up for adoration 2x week.

Done! We also go to a holy hour on Saturdays (most weeks), so it’s almost 3 hours/week. #LikeABoss

4. Do stations of the cross on Fridays.

Nope. Didn’t do it once. HOWEVER, we are doing a chaplet of divine mercy on Fridays as part of 40 Days for Life. Yay.

 

Academics

1. Write down assignments in my planner when I find out about them.

Somewhat followed. I didn’t forget any, so yay!

2. Check planner everyday.

Didn’t really follow this. But since I wasn’t forgetting assignments, I’m okay with that.

3. Buy a stock of post-it’s to put each assignment on, and write them down.

See last one.

 

Computer Usage

1. Put my laptop on my desk, and only sit there to be on it (unless I am taking it out of the suite to work on it).

After realizing how uncomfortable my desk is for me (hello short legs), I decided to nix this one. Perhaps it shall be revisited, but not at the moment.

2. Gradually check emails less. By the end of September, be checking them three times a day.

Not as cray cray about checking emails, but remembering to count when I check them is not happening…

3. Check Facebook only twice a day.

See above.

4. Go to my Google Alerts for news instead of social media. Add two new alerts.

Yes! I added in a death penalty and stem cell research alert (scintillating, I know). Any ideas for things to keep up on?

 

Reading & Writing

1. Find 15 minutes a day to read a non-school book. Focus on one at a time.

I started reading Pro-Life Feminism and I Believe in Love, but the 15 minute thing didn’t work out so hot.

2. Write one non-link-up post a week here or for Live Action News.

Whoa! Thought I failed this one, but I wrote 3:

The time is now (ie. get off yo butt and get a move on!)

Holiness from Calcutta (because Mother Teresa is a BOSS)

It’s the little things . . . (ie. the one no one read that’s about doing things. Ironic?)

 

And now . . . Fitness & Health

I’m not going into huge detail because there’s a whole post coming on this. Moral of the story? You’re gonna have to come back here tomorrow!

1. Look for a 5k to do before Christmas.

There’s a “wear something crazy from a thrift store” 5k going on in a couple weeks, so I’m debating doing that. We’ll see!

2. Find two new healthy snacks to keep in my dorm room instead of traditional unhealthy ones.

Funny how I haven’t touched the like 10 bags of popcorn in my stash. I started out with hummus and carrots. Now I have beans (“refried” in my crockpot!) and I do an egg for breakfast. Yay non-junk food! We also went to the local farmer’s market which was delightful. Who knew real vegetables actually exist in Atchison?!?!

3. Work out three times a week, and find a consistent time that works.

If you had told me a couple months ago I’d be getting up well before the sun every weekday to subject my muscles to strenuous activity, I would have laughed. Like big time. Are you crazy?

But now I’m like:

 

I’m a month into this, and it only takes 21 days to form a habit, right? I can’t imagine NOT getting up by 6:15am now. Sometimes (actually pretty often) I wake up before my alarm. And it’s pitch black. I go the the gym on campus and make my fat cry (because that’s what sweat is, right?) every morning during the week. It is gloriously gross. I drip sweat. I soak shirts. 2-3 days a week we come back and do strength stuff as well, so it’s not just cardio. And I feel AMAZING.

And to hear the rest of my story (’cause ya’ll know there’s more), you’re just going to have to wait until tomorrow. Mwahahahaha.

4. Since my commitments start at 9am M-F, set a consistent time to wake up.

6:15am, brotha. Unless the 6am bells wake me up. Or the lightning. Or I just wake up randomly at 5:51.

 

And there you have my September! Classes are easier than last year, but life is still rather demanding. And I’m okay with that. I’m learning a lot, trying to grow as a person, and really enjoying this time in my life.

Stay tuned, because I have a lot more to say! What do you have to say? How is your life going? Can I pray for something that’s going on right now? Grab a cup of coffee and let’s chat!

To Life,

 

 

 

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It’s that time of month again . . . time to be accountable. Here are my February goals and how I did:

1. Finish the blog everyday in February challenge.

DONE! It was a lot of fun, a little bit hard, and a good exercise.

2. Write at least 3 articles for Live Action.

What is my problem with this? I wrote one. As I was writing it, I kept asking myself why I don’t do it more. It’s partially because I’ve been trying really hard to not bash people over the web and be a more positive influence on people. A lot of headlines related to life issues are bad, so I choose not to write about many of them. Somehow I need to find a balance.

3. Name one baby each week through 50 Million Names and do a different gesture for each one.

I’ve named 3 total. This past weekend we had an event on campus where we got together people for a pro-life movie night and named babies beforehand. Then we wrote letters to each one telling them how loved they are and put them together in a binder which is now on display in our student union. It was so beautiful!

4. Keep up the exercise, 9-5 thing, and adoration (when it starts).

I’m not out of my room strictly 9-5 each day, but do go to the library to study during breaks instead of coming back to my room where homework comes to die. That’s been wonderful! Adoration is lovely. My Christian Moral Life professor described contemplation as “soaking in the Jesus tan”, and I absolutely love my time chillin’ with Jesus. Exercise is awesome because I don’t feel like a marshmallow! Whoohoo! Being able to do the whole ultimate boot camp workout feels like quite an accomplishment, AND I just got down in my pajamas and did 15 push ups. Boom.

5. Make an effort to do random acts of kindness at least once a week.

We made valentines for all of our dorm mates and I did other stuff too which felt so good! But I can’t tell you what exactly it was because that would defeat the purpose.

6. Finish the 4 books I’m in the middle of!

Fail. But I’m so close! Definitely will have these done soon.

7. Set aside an hour a week to get back to reaching out to people online about abortion.

Fail. Fail. Fail. How did I forget about this? BUT I’ve been going every Saturday to sidewalk counsel and you can find a beautiful recent experience with that here.

8. Share at least 1 inspirational quote or video on Facebook every week.

Hmm, didn’t tally this up, but I started an inspirational photo album on there. And I’ve made an effort to share good things too.

February was a good month, but it went really fast. March will probably too since I’ll be gone for 10 days on a mission trip! I’m leading a group of 7 ladies to work with the missionaries of charity in St. Louis, and can’t wait to get back to tell you about it. The ol’ blog here will be quiet while I’m away, but I’ll be back!

 

Here are my goals for March which include much of what I’m doing for Lent (but not all):

1. Start my day by reviewing Mother Teresa’s 7 Steps to a Holier Life and doing a morning offering.

2. Stations every Friday

3. Remember to write down more prayer intentions each day, and ask people if there’s anything specific I can pray for them about.

Hey! Do you have anything to add here? I’ll be praying for specific people each day (like usual) and would love to include your intentions.

4. 10 minutes of spiritual reading each day (for Lent)

My goal is to finish Lumen Fidei (over half way now), A People of Hope (so close!), Mere Christianity, A Biblical Walk Through the Mass, and the Book of Luke before Easter. 10 minutes is just a start (the bare minimum) and I hope to increase the amount of time.

5. Sort Facebook friends/pages into categories so I spend less time on there

Sorry people, but your hamburger and pets may not be applicable to my life. There’s just so much noise out there, and I’m going to work on cutting it down by doing this. That way I can choose who to look at updates from, and who to only check on occasionally.

6. Read articles intentionally

Enough with the Buzzfeed quizzes and tips for how to have PERFECT hair/nails/teeth/organization/whatever. Those do not contribute to my holiness or happiness so goodbye. Only read articles that have some value to them.

7. Write letters & send random texts

My youngest sister sends the cutest letters. She’s at that stage where she writes phonetically and it’s absolutely hilarious. How fun would it be to make people’s days with a little note?!?! People appreciate being cared about, so be the reason someone smiles!

8. Go to Mass twice a week (other than Sunday)

9. Sleep more

Do yourself and the world a favor by being coherent. Getting off the internet and tackling homework/things to do before 11pm would help with this.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope you’ve had time to sort out lenten goals and are able to take this time to become a better version of yourself! Here’s to a fruitful and transformative Lent.

Everybody’s got a dream, right? Well, if you don’t, think bigger! Pray about it! We’re all made for greatness. And through exercising our talents and abilities, what God can do through us is unlimited. Seriously. Just remember the quote that goes something like “God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called.” Whatever you’re meant to do? It’s gonna work out just fine and he’ll give you what you need to accomplish it. So dream big!

My dream is to change people’s lives.

How do I want to do that? I’m working on my degree in business management right now (which is really hard goshdarnit) and will be done in a little over two years. After I graduate, I want to eventually start my own life affirming center. Well, that’s kinda vague, huh? Let me elaborate.

At this center I want to provide a safe haven for people going through tough stuff, and experienced staff to bring people out of trials and into a better future. I want people to know, through my work, the greatness they are called to. I want them to know the dignity and beauty they posses. I want to work with people to draw others into the light of a glorious life of truth and beauty fully alive.

Here’s an idea of what I want to provide:

• shelter for single/pregnant moms
• maternity and baby supplies
• options counseling (and teen mentoring)
• free pregnancy tests
• free ultrasounds and early pregnancy services
• sidewalk counseling training
• adoption services
• post-abortion recovery
• high school education program
• life skill training classes for parents and teens (think parenting, house making, managing money, people skills, etc.)
• job search assistance
• referrals for other types of services

Exciting, huh? I see people who are driven to have abortions, and I want to help them. I see people who have had abortions, and I want to help them. I see teens who don’t have dreams and are living half the life they’re meant to. And I want to help all them. At this place I want to run, it would be ideal to appoint a head of different departments to manage specific aspects of our work: teen outreach, counseling, medical, shelter logistics, and so much more.

So that is what I’d like to do career-wise with pro-life work. Someday I hope to get married and have my own family too, so this center will just have to happen around that 🙂

This is all, of course, my dream. So who knows if it’ll all happen. God might have other better plans!

 

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Last month I was a bit apprehensive about making goals because I was home for half the month and then got right back to school, went on the March right after starting classes and then whew! Here I am still getting into this semester’s groove. But it’s a new month which means it’s time to evaluate the last month and look ahead to this one. Join me in the link up at the end of this post so we can all work together at becoming the best versions of ourselves!

My January goal review:

1. Finish plans for RRL’s sidewalk counseling program (with my officers!)

Done. We’re having a training on the 6th and are planning to start going out regularly after that. Goodbye Saturday mornings! I’m very excited about this because the woman we’re bringing in to train us (from the local diocese) knows a couple who wants to bring out their mobile ultrasound unit when we’re there. OMG. Excited is an understatement, guys. I have no idea what kind of impact we’re going to have, but I’m praying we’re able to work together with God to touch people inside that clinic.

2. Write 3 articles for Live Action.

I wrote one. It didn’t meet my goal, but hey. I wrote one! And the last one was in October. I guess I needed a break to appreciate it a little more. It feels so great to be back at writing.

3. Perform 3 random acts of kindness.

This was a fail. I didn’t print these goals out and pretty much forgot about this one.

4. You know that 9-5 thing? Do it.

This one has been hard but awesome! The first few days my back got rather sore because of everything I stuffed into my backpack. And I had to come back several times those first couple days because I forgot major things (like paper to write on…duh). Sometimes I’m not out until exactly 5, but if I have homework to do I go to the library to do it. Forced constructiveness, folks! It’s hard when I have homework to do on my computer because it generally refuses to charge in the library. But other than that, this concept has made homework SO much better. I’ve only stayed up late one night getting it done 🙂

5. Finish one of my Mother Teresa books (and hang up the poster from Christmas for a daily reminder)

I looked at the books and really didn’t feel like finishing them right now because the ones I have are a collection of quotes. But I hung up the poster! This is a picture of my corner of my room, and you can see the LIFE poster of Mother Teresa’s quote up there right next to my babies saved from abortion calendar 🙂

6. Exercise 3 times a week once I’m back at school.

This one has gone quite well. I didn’t count every time we’ve worked out, but I’m feeling great and sore. For the first time I was able to do a half hour of the ultimate bootcamp video without dying. Yay!

7. Find and buy a zumba workout DVD.

Nope. still gotta do this. *sigh* I just don’t want to sit down and research it a ton. Anyone know of a good video here?

8. Finish the books I am Malala and A people of hope.

I’m pretty sure I have severe book adhd because I’m in the middle of four books. So I’m not done with these two. Both are good and they will be finished soon.

Now for my February goals:

1. Finish the blog everyday in February challenge.

2. Write at least 3 articles for Live Action.

Ultimately I’d like to write once a week for them, so I need to start working toward that.

3. Name one baby each week through 50 Million Names and do a different gesture for each one.

4. Keep up the exercise, 9-5 thing, and adoration (when it starts).

I’m going to give myself concrete fitness goals, so here’s what I’m beginning with: right now I can do about 9 push ups before I’m keeling over. By the end of the month I want to be able to do 15.

5. Make an effort to do random acts of kindness at least once a week.

6. Finish the 4 books I’m in the middle of!

7. Set aside an hour a week to get back to reaching out to people online about abortion.

8. Share at least 1 inspirational quote or video on Facebook every week.

Time to hear your goals! Link up below or comment if you don’t have a blog.

 

 

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