In The Refiner's Fire

One of my peonies last summer. Lovely! It feels as though last week was very lazy for me.  I only accomplish about half of the things I had hoped to accomplish.  I did rest, read, exercise, and just enjoy myself.  That is what I really needed, I believe.  My body has been very tired and had some both physical and mental healing to do. I think it was a good week, even if I did not get everything I really hoped to accomplish finished. Here are the actual goals I set for last for the first full week of 2020, January 5-11, with updates: 1.  Finish at least one baby gift (I have 3 to finish).  I got the top and bottom tied (with the battling between!) and I have pinned the edge for a self-binding on one baby quilt. 2.  Read 50 pages for work.  I read 26 pages for work.   3.  Write 1500 words for work.  I wrote 2600 for work this week - lots of writing with the semester starting! 4.  Spend 30 minutes 3 days working...

One of the flower bouquets picked from my garden this summer. This is the time of year that seems like such a fresh start and where so many set new goals - goals for the calendar year 2020.  For the past several years I've set myself an impressive list of goals I hoped to achieve.  This past year, I did succeed in achieving most of them and making progress on all of them - I was very pleased with myself. It was also a year where my parents collectively had six surgeries, I had two and was diagnosed with another (hopefully temporary) medical condition that is wreaking havoc on my body.  Our children started high school, participating in many things and working very hard on homework.  They have also started looking at summer jobs - something they can hold for several years.  John started the church year with a whole less of old business popping up through the woodwork, so to speak, at church - we are definitely over the honeymoon period and working in the ...

I'm dreaming of summer and warm evening fires, like the one above.  We're supposed to get rain and then snow and then cold again through tonight (Wednesday) into Friday.  Sigh. I'm ready for winter to be done and it's only the beginning-ish of January.  One of the things that people are doing this time of year is posting their "schedule" for their days.  And since I often get asked how I "do it all" (trust me, I definitely don't do it all!), I thought I'd jump on that bandwagon, at least in a way.  We have more of a routine than a set schedule, though we do have times to be places and the like.  This is our weekday schedule. Some things to keep in mind: Our children are tweens, so plenty old enough to sleep through the night, do all their own grooming, and help with the household chores.  Most days we don't have to keep reminding them to do their homework and practice instruments (they both play two).  I'm so grateful!  Hav...

These were a new addition to my garden this year - dwarf iris.  SO beautiful! Over the tail end of 2017, John and I spent quite a bit of time on what we wanted to accomplish in 2018.  We came up with two areas to focus on: FINANCES and FAMILY Here's what we're hoping to accomplish in these two areas in 2018: Family:   More deliberate time together and being intentional in being in touch with our extended family, including my husband's eight siblings. Finances:  To pay off two specific debts that we're starting this year with (something very unusual for us) and to complete a specific list of household repairs. Breaking it down further, here's what we'd like these things to look like on a monthly basis in 2018: * One evening per week spent as a family.  We used to do this regularly, but it's been sporadic for the last year or so and we've all missed it!  Time to get back to it! * At least two dates per month for John and I.  While...

Deliberate (Adjective): Done consciously and intentionally Looking back over 2017, and quite frankly, since John started Seminary so many years ago, I've spent a lot of time living in a manner that left me feeling at loose ends.  I had to pick up a lot of things that John had to leave behind and drop a lot of things that meant a great deal to me - like my degree work (though I never dropped out, I had to take time off from the program).  In 2017, John settled into his First Call as a Pastor and our lives relaxed quite a bit on many, many fronts - schedules, finances, and family health (this last having nothing to do with John's Call).  We're now been more than a year into First Call and it's been wonderful - the congregation is everything we could ask for and more, we've established a routine, people have been gracious and kind, and we've been definitely blessed.   During this time I've allowed myself to heal, both physically and mentally. I still h...

Our purple dwarf iris - unfortunately I don't know the name, it was  hand me down from a family member. It’s been a long time since I posted.   So, if you’re still here, thanks for hanging on with me.   We’ve had an… eventful? Full?... summer so far.   I’m not quite sure of the right word. Very shortly after I last posted, my laptop met an entire cup of coffee.   It did end up being salvageable but the keyboard and track pad needed to be replaced (way cheaper than buying a new one) but, of course, that took a while. I taught summer session.   John had 12% of our congregation in the hospital, 4 funerals, and a wedding.   The children had sleep away church camp and then we’ve had to juggle childcare.   There was a major, very stressful, not good, and quite unexpected happening at my work and John had to handle a major thing with the property at church too.   All in all, by the time I got done with summer session, I was s...

Well,  right about now it feels like 2017 is kicking our backsides. First, flu, head cold, head cold, more flu, more head colds. Then the furnace needed repairs.  The van died completely.  We discovered a problem in one of our bedrooms that requires removing three walls worth of drywall, baseboards, etc. in that bedroom and the adjoining room to fix.  And of course all those things need to be taken care of  NOW , as in yesterday, no waiting.  SIGH.  In any case, I feel like I've been playing catch up since the beginning of the year.  I'm ready to be caught up already! With all of that, here's my goals for this week: * Catch up schoolwork to current * Learn 4 new routines for Jazzercise * Teach 4 Jazzercise classes * Register the children for church camp * Sew one baby gift (good friends had a sweet baby girl the end of January) * Sew spring placemats * Mend 5 items * Read 2 books for my research * Schedule home ...

No photo today.  I have been very lax about taking photos lately.  I really should get better at that.  It's been one of those up and down weeks - lots to do, an ill child, my leg deciding to cramp up for no discernible reason, and another round of snow making the commute slow on top of it all.  Do you ever have those weeks where there's nothing seriously wrong but you still want to scream in frustration?  That's this week for me. *SIGH*. Anyway, here's the goals update. Work: * Clean up my desk at work * Do the shredding at work Started this . * Clean out and organize my notebooks for both of my classes Finished one class. * Be completely ready for classes to start * Redo a section of my T/Th class curriculum   * Meet with a research colleague * Put together a Power Point presentation Family: * Celebrate John's Birthday * Make two gifts for John for his Birthday * Visit my in-laws    * Date out with my husband * Attend an appoin...

John's Advent Calendar that I made him for his office at the church.  He loved it!  I hadn't posted a picture before so I thought I should.  The red star on the top right package is for the top of the little tree in his office.  Well, progress is slow here.  This month is proving much busier than I had anticipated and my father-in-law has had some unexpected health issues.  I have been wrestling with trying to do all the things and rest and relax like I want to.  A good problem to have, right?  Well, yes, and no.  You see, after being sick constantly for almost 10 years now, trying to catch up is a bit like trying to push a wet rope up a hill.  If you work hard enough you can get it up the hill but it won't be anything like you want when you get there.  In a lot of ways I'm totally okay with that - my life is way better in so many ways than it was before I got sick.  In other ways...not so much.  All the partly finis...

This week was back-to-work week for me and, honestly, it was good to get back into a routine.  We're dealing with "winter weather" here - something normal for us in Minnesota this time of year.  Messy roads, slow commutes and shoveling/snow plowing are all the order of the day.  Keeps us on our toes!   Last week was a slow week since I had a bad PHN flare and need to rest and recover. I didn't get much done.  I was totally okay with that since I was technically on vacation last week and didn't need to get anything done!  So, my completed tasks aren't very many from last week. This week will be better! Work: * Clean up my desk at work   Did this Monday this week. * Do the shredding at work * Clean out and organize my notebooks for both of my classes Got one class almost finished. * Be completely ready for classes to start * Redo a section of my T/Th class curriculum * Meet with a research colleague * Put together a Power P...

Happy New Year everyone! It's a whole new year.  I always enjoy the refocusing that a new year brings and all the reflection that come with that.  I feel pretty spoiled since I get that twice a year - once in January with the new year and once in August/September when the school year kicks off. I've been perusing the seed and plant catalogues, hence the photo above.  I have so many plans.  To that end, I've made up a pretty detailed to-do list for each month of the year.  These will fill in more as the year goes on but for now I'm quite happy with what I have come up with.  I have some "extra" time this month since I don't go back to class until halfway through the month and I am taking this first week completely off from work.  My goals for this week include exercise, finishing a couple of house projects, rest, and some things like sewing and other creative things.  I have no delusions about how much I can get done during that week so m...

Red for the Holy Spirit!  Plates, Cups and Napkins from the brunch for 35 we hosted at our home Saturday morning. Now that we're through Ordination, we can settle once again into  routine.  I've definitely decided that there is never a week without something happening (John is at a church function 4 nights this week!) but that we can get into a routine and a rhythm.  This will change with the church seasons and the school year but I'm hoping to establish an ebb and flow that we can maintain for a while. This week is mid-terms here where I'm at and basketball season is slowly ramping up.  We're eating up the leftovers in the fridge and planning for Advent - both at church and at home.  We have one more big day coming up - Installation at John's church - but that celebration is taken care of by the parish and we simply have to show up and enjoy ourselves. We should receive our photos from the ordination later this week and I'm totally excited about t...

A rather blurry picture of my silver candle holder, filled with zinnias and pincushions from my garden.  I picked this up a few years ago at a garage sale for $5.  It's beautiful! I think I'm making progress.  I feel like things are moving SLOWLY right now.  The weather is beautiful, the garden is going crazy (both veggies and flowers) and we have had several unexpected things rolling around in the background, some of which are really exciting.  It's been busy but this list hasn't gotten too much crossed off.  Still, I'm happy with what's been going on. Work: * Prep Unit 1 & 2 for both of my fall classes  (one class is done and the other half done) * Finish research summary Work things are going along slowly right now since I'm trying to keep up with the yard and garden and get the children ready for the start of school.  We've had so much rain that the weeds are crazy and the tomatoes are going gangbusters (I had no idea clover cou...

Some of my beautiful flowers: zinnias and cosmos.  Since I've been so bad about posting my goals for July, the italic goals below are from July and the non-italic goals are new ones added for August.  With the unplanned break that I took, I haven't gotten as much done as I would have liked but I think I'm healthier, which is a good thing!  Here we go: Work: * Prep Unit 1 & 2 for both of my fall classes  (one class is done and the other half done) * Finish research summary Family: * Read 2-3 books aloud to the children  (I've read 1 and started another) * Attend two meeting with John (for his call process) * Attend one more meeting with John * Host a birthday party for our daughter (her birthday was in May but she wanted her party in July) * Host a birthday party for our son * Play 4 board games with the children * One date out with John * Visit three free or nearly free events/museums/locations with the children We went to the Minneso...

My pea plant seedlings - coming back well. Hopefully we'll get peas this year! My summer goals are kind of opposite and two-fold - first, relax and second, finish up several things on my to-do list!  I've put together a tentative schedule and we're going to work on sticking with it.   I have some fun things to do with the children and I'm hoping to have at least two or three days each week that we don't have to drive anywhere.    That will allow us quite a bit of time to do things that we need to get completed. Here's my to-do list for July: Work: * Prep Unit 1 & 2 for both of my fall classes * Finish research summary Family: * Read 2-3 books aloud to the children * Attend two meeting with John (for his call process) * Host a birthday party for our daughter (her birthday was in May but she wanted her party in July) * Play 4 board games with the children * One date out with John * Visit three free or nearly free events/museums/locations...

    I'm a bit slow in uploading my photos from my iPod - I really don't want to mess with cables and all that jazz right now, so you get another version of the flowers you've already seen!   This month is just speeding by.  It's hard to believe that we're this far in already.     Here's an update on my June 2016 Goals so far this month:    1.  Keep up with all the work needed for teaching my summer class.  This is a LOT of work and I need to be really intentional about it or I'll fall really behind.  This has taken up most of my time but I haven't fallen behind at all yet! YAY! 2. Attend at least 15 Jazzercise classes this month.  I need to push myself a bit.  This one has been a colossal failure so far.  I have only attended 4 classes so far this month - my shingles pain has been really making things difficult so far this month. 3. Learn 18 new Jazzercise routines.  I got behind in Ma...

Our beautiful clematis - taken by my Dad on his Smartphone!  We have three in our yard in varying shades of purple. Totally random day for this post but I decided since I didn't keep you posted very well on my goals for May and it's now June, I'd just start with June since today is still at the beginning of June! Here's the goals I have for June: 1.  Keep up with all the work needed for teaching my summer class.  This is a LOT of work and I need to be really intentional about it or I'll fall really behind. 2. Attend at least 15 Jazzercise classes this month.  I need to push myself a bit. 3. Learn 18 new Jazzercise routines.  I got behind in May so now I need to catch up! 4. Weed at least one area of the gardens each week.  My Mom and I did a super job of cleaning these out initially in the spring so it *should* just be maintenance.  With the rain we've been having, it might be harder than that. We'll see.  5. Pick any produce ...

I'm having a hard time believing that we're already halfway through April!  Sheesh.  Time flies. We've gotten a few things done but I haven't gotten as many as I would like to get done by this point. I feel like I have a lot to do and my health hasn't been cooperating very well.  I'm praying this week will better! My weekly/daily to-do lists are more specific than this but this hits the high points for what I need to do this month.  Here's where we're at this week: * Finish reading that other book for my research I finished a few pages to finish a chapter. I have about 4 more chapters to go. * Write at least 3500 words this month - I'd like to write 5000. I have written about 300 so far. * Finish three house projects this month (on the docket: replace a door knob, paint the stairwell, paint the one repaired kitchen wall).  The door knob is replaced! * Prep one unit for my summer class. Those of us that teach this class are all meeting nex...

My daughter took a picture of this fabric that she liked to show my mother - the picture doesn't even do it justice!  So, here's where I left you with my goals for March and how I managed to do with them: * Read 2 books for my research. Read one and part of another one. * Write 1000 words on my writings that I need to do for work and school. I wrote about 300 words. * Calculate and Submit Mid-term grades.   Done! * Finished the shredding at the office that I need to do. Did part of this. * Remove two stacks of old papers from my bookcase at work and file, scan or shred as needed. Done! * Prep one unit for my summer class. Didn't get to this. * Sew a new Easter tablecloth. Didn't even get to look at this. * Finish at least 5 gifts. Worked on several but didn't actually finish any. * Finish 2 mostly-finished embroidery projects. Made progress but got neither done. * Play at least two board games the children. Done! * Have a date night with my husband....

So way back the end of February, I realized I hadn't written about any goals for February and I decided I was really going to nail in March.  Then I got sick and everything flew out the window.  So, since March is almost over and this is Holy Week and I really need something else to do (do you hear the sarcasm?), I decided I would post my goals for the rest of March - since I'm finally feeling like I'm well again. (And, yes, that was a heck of a run-on sentence! Thank you very much.) So, here we go for the rest of March (from 3/22 to 3/31): * Read 2 books for my research. * Write 1000 words on my writings that I need to do for work and school. * Calculate and Submit Mid-term grades. * Finished the shredding at the office that I need to do.  * Remove two stacks of old papers from my bookcase at work and file, scan or shred as needed. * Prep one unit for my summer class. * Sew a new Easter tablecloth. * Finish at least 5 gifts. * Finish 2 mostly-finished embro...